Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Life'

Written by Scott Edwards

With the search for life in the universe continuing on a regular basis, does anybody know what to do if we actually find it? This is a question that the top thinkers on our planet need to be asking, because when another life form is actually found, it may not like what it sees in the human race. From time to time, I look up at the stars and wonder if I am seeing UFO’s instead of planets many lightyears away. If this could be true, why are they not coming down to ask me to take them to our leader, or worse to give me a probe that will ultimately control me when the invasion of Earth takes place. With so many questions and not a lot of answers, I just hope that we are planning for the worst right now, since we have no idea who the dominate species is going to be, until it is too late.
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As the crew on the International Space Station awaits the Mars probe to make it back their way, they find out that it is traveling much faster than expected and is on the brink of being out of control. Knowing that he is the only one that can catch it, Rory steps out in his space suit and takes control of the large space station’s arm to retrieve it. With a perfect catch that leaves the station damage free, Rory is the hero once again, but little does he know what is coming aboard the station, along with what it will mean for the future of his team.

Pulling out the soil samples, Hugh is shocked to find that there is a single cell organism present that proves that there was once life on the red planet. Being able to bring it back to life by changing the parameters in the lab, the crew is shocked to see it grow before their very eyes. With a new name for the organism being picked for it back on Earth, Calvin has made his appearance for the first time. Feeding and growing Calvin in the space station, Hugh believes he is forming a bond with the alien lifeform. But after a mishap in the lab puts Calvin in hibernation mode, Hugh tries to awaken his new friend, but finds out that Calvin is more than capable of taking care of himself.

Shocking the organism to wake it back up, Calvin clamps on to his human father and crushes his hand into many pieces. After the alien releases Hugh from its love grasp and escapes its confines, Rory rushes in to save his friend, but is not able to escape the clutches of Calvin as it loves to hug anyone that it comes into contract with. Not being able to save their handyman on the station, the remaining crew starts to see that this cute little alien is much more violent than they could have expected and is looking to feed on them to grow to its true potential. As crew members die off in Calvin’s grasp, the race to seal the vicious alien in space becomes a priority, but Calvin is not willing to let anyone leave, especially if they are trying to get back to a place where it can feed non-stop.

What was my biggest takeaway from this movie? That aliens are evil and scary and kill Ryan Reynolds first. Outside of that, there is really not much more to take away from what could have been a great horror/sci-fi movie. Don’t let the R rating fool you as well, there is plenty of swearing to warrant it, but the scares and blood on the other hand are lacking. With the storyline jumping all over the place and characters that you don’t really care about, it just seems like this movie was an attempt to get some butts in the theaters to waste a couple hours. With a plenty of promise, unresolved issues, Ryan Reynolds getting killed, no Green Lantern commentary, jump scares, an alien that was humanized by giving it a name, and a face, a silly space creature that would have been more frightening in the shadows and a fight for survival aboard the ISS that will leave you wondering what you just saw, Life is all right overall as a Sci Fi movie, but a disappointment to the horror community, because there really is no horror. Just remember, in space, nobody can hear you scream, especially if you are being hunted by an alien.  

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