A good film overall, however a bit of predictable ending!

Rating: 7/10 (26 March 2017)

The trailers for this were really good, that with the fantastic cast that was "onboard" for this film, I was pretty interested to see what this film had to offer.
The positives of the film, firstly the visuals. The look of this film is beautiful and stunning throughout, there is never a frame in this film that doesn't look brilliantly lit and shot. The visuals of the film obviously go hand in hand with the CGI in the film which is also perfectly shown in this film. I believe sci-fi films these days have hard time with special effects looking different from each other and trying to look better than each other. When comparing this films visuals and effects to films like Interstellar and Arrival this film does hold up OK but not as good as other recent sci-fi films.
The acting across the board is good and extremely solid, this is obvious when you have the three main leads being portrayed by talented actors such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson. The other remaining cast members also all have good solid performances, however this film never really has a stand out which I think it was crying out for at times.
The use of suspense and tension is perfectly executed in this film, there are some parts that are really nerve wrecking. I think the fact that the alien or Calvin does look visually frightening they use methods of suspense and tension building in the scenes to influence and promote the feel of those scenes. I personally haven't seen a recent sci-fi film use these elements as well as this film does and really works hand in hand with the environment of the film.
Now the negatives of the film, firstly the story. The story of the film for the most part is quite interesting and very grounded which makes the stakes higher and characters more realistic, like it could be actually happening now. However towards the ending of the film it became quite clear how the film was going to end, because the opposite outcome had been dropped hear and there by characters throughout the film. Without trying to spoil it I think it would have been better if the director had cut back and forth between the two capsules with both shots show no difference in shakiness or motion. This would have made the audience guess as to which escape capsule was at a specific location. Finally the film should of cut to black before we get to see who is inside one of the capsules, this would of left the film open ended and make the audience wanting more, that's just me any way.
The other main negative is the character build up and stories, which are really poorly done. There is a pathetic attempt in trying to show the characters back story by either showing stuff about their families or their motivations for being in the international space station. I believe that if there was a little more time spent in building up the characters back stories and relationships between each of them, we would of cared for them more especially when Calvin becomes alive. If for example there had been a little 5-10 minute period before either they were on the space station or some time before the incident we could learn more about the characters and get a better connection to them.
All in all this is an enjoyable watch and sometimes un-watchable due to the horrific nature of the alien and the superb use of tension. This film is 70% out of 100 due to the great visual and effects, good performance and brilliant use of tension. However the story negatives and characters stories does let it down a lot because they should be the backbone to the film. If you like the sci-fi / horror genre then you probably enjoy this however it is not on the same level as an Interstellar or Arrival!