Life – Unpopped Review
A group of scientist on the international space station studies the first dirt sample from Mars only to find that it may hold the possible reason to Mars’ destruction.
The Good:
For any horror movie to be good, it needs some good scares. Well, Life is definitely full of them. What is great about Life though is that it doesn’t simply rely on jump scares and cheap tricks. It uses the claustrophobic setting and sense of unknown to help build tension and drive the scares. So as a horror movie, Life is effective, scary, and great.
The alien design. I really don’t want to give anything away on this front because the trailer does a really good job by showing as little as possible. However, I do want to say that I did enjoy where it started, how it grew, and especially how it ended.
The actors and characters. With names like Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds you know to expect at least a certain level of quality. They deliver on almost every level.
The story development. It can be very easy for a movie set in space to suddenly end in a loss of oxygen or a decompressed compartment. However, Life is able to raise the stakes while still keeping a sense of realism.
The Ehh:
Like almost any horror movie, the characters don’t always make the best decisions. Life isn’t the worst at this, but it does fall into this trap 2 or 3 times. What’s worse is that I feel there are a few situations where they didn’t need to make those decisions. The writers could have found ways for the characters to be in situations without them making stupid choices.
The story overshadows the actors. While all the actors did a great job, the story is really where Life excels. The problem with this is that all the actors could have been replaced with little to no consequence to the overall product. I simply didn’t care who lived or who died. I only cared about how they would or wouldn’t get out of the situation.
Verdict:
Life is an excellent sci-fi, horror film that thrives in its scares and story.
See in Theaters
So that’s what I thought of Life. What did you think? And what is your favorite sci-fi, horror movie? For me, you can never go wrong with Alien. Let me know in the comments below, don’t forget to follow me on Movie-blogger.com, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, my comedy podcast In Air Quotes, and remember to always keep it unpopped.
