Life exceeded my expectations despite the imagined story pitch of Alien meets Gravity. The film's creature is arguably as perfect an organism as the Alien in that it can survive in a vacuum for a limited amount of time, seems impervious to harsh changes in atmosphere. In extreme cases it can hibernate infinitely. The description is basically a mass of brain, eye like sensory perception and muscle. It also seems to evolve in whatever environment it finds itself in and like the Alien is capable of comprehending human technology enough so that it can move a lever or whatnot. The growth is exponential and it clearly operates on a survival by any means, like the xenomorph. The creature design is also quite believable. Scientists have speculated that over time, the octopus could evolve into a sentient species so long as it can control the environment to ensure it's survival as a species. That is something that human beings do that makes us different from other known native life forms on Earth. The characters are developed enough to feel for them and understand why they make the decisions they do even when they are not fully thought out because like all humans, they have faults and they react emotionally. This was moved up to a March release and I think that was a good idea because it feels more like a winter release and given the competition, Life has a better chance at reaching an audience than in a crowded summer season. I only hope they don't produce a sequel. What was said was all that needed to be said and while exploring the creature would be interesting, I think a sequel would likely cheapen the effect of this movie in a way that the Species sequels just cheapened the popcorn Geiger designed humanoid alien fun of the first film. Life is in theaters globally at the time of this posting.
(C) Copyright 2017 By Mark A. Rivera.
All Rights Reserved.
