Life

This review may contain spoilers!

This has instantly secured itself as a science-fiction horror classic in my eyes, the likes of which we've very rarely seen since the first Alien film came out. I would give Life an 8.5/10.

This is a film that really builds up tension well; moving swiftly from the point where the team is connecting and celebrating Calvin's arrival to the sudden breach by Calvin, who promptly sets about killing crew member after crew member. It's a film that works well because you feel confined, this is not a far flung into the future sci-fi and the characters are still limited to tight spaces and slow space walks. The real breakdown of order into chaos without any of the crew members really turning on each other was refreshing to see as well, the desperation certain characters showed in the face of death felt so real. The final five to ten minutes of the film was a real feat; playing with perspective so that it becomes unsure where the final survivors wind up, and that reveal at the end was perfect. The cinematography was in constant motion which made it feel as if you were floating in space alongside the characters; the way the camera fixated upon Calvin's movements really cast this Martian as something to fear. The special effects of the film looked rather good; Calvin is the big achievement of course, with the pods hurtling through space and the amazing background visuals only adding to the style. The score for the film built up a very real feeling of dread, it might not be the most memorable one of this year but it sets the tone very well.

Hiroyuki Sanada, who played Sho Murakami, was a very calculating and grounded role; it was nice to see how his on-screen family really motivated his role. Ryan Reynolds, who played Rory Adams, has become a natural at unleashing really entertaining comedy and that's still very much the case in this film; Reynolds brings forth a bit of a hothead who's death scene in the film will really hook you in. Rebecca Ferguson, who played Miranda North, is a very authoritative figure throughout the feature; her fixation on preserving containment protocols sometimes at the expense of human life would've been stereotypical in the hands of a lesser actress. Jake Gyllenhaal, who played David Jordan, felt reclusive and withdrawn due to his increased attachment to living in space; yet Gyllenhaal did some great work to humanise his role and really developed a role who wanted to stop the senseless chain of violence and death that had taken over the space station. Olga Dihovichnaya, who played Ekaterina Golovkina, made for a fiercely compassionate commander of this space expedition; the moment in which she chooses to die as she's drowning out in space is one of the hardest scenes in the film to watch.

However the best performance came from Ariyon Bakare, who played Hugh Derry. Bakare's role in this film feels immensely wise and experienced; yet he also exhibits the joy and passion you'd watch in a scientists who discovers actual life from Mars. I found the witticisms this role shared to be very entertaining, he was certainly a character of insightful proverbs and anecdotes. The aspect of his disability was an interesting one, he presented a very neutral outlook upon the condition but the setting really reminded you that this man was no less capable than anyone else on the ship despite his inability to walk. The blame and guilt he assigns himself over Calvin is very humbling to watch, Bakare becomes a sort of astronaut Frankenstein who watches his freakish progeny slowly murder his true friends.

The start of the film happens all at once rather quickly, the way we suddenly jump between the 'important' bits makes it feel as if content has been cut from the film or that the writer's lacked inspiration before releasing Calvin upon the crew. Furthermore I'm a bit over watching the quarantine or safety officer being portrayed as the most antagonistic of the crew; Life came a long way in moving away from that but I still think it's become a bit of a tired trope in sci-fi cinema.