I had low expectations going into the movie theater when this movie was going to be presented and showcased to me and the audience. After watching the trailer, it looked like a rip-off of the movie, Alien. However, it is a dumb statement because many scary space movies feature the same structure and premise of a group of astronauts either returning from a mission or during a mission that something goes wrong...following the Alien structure or the Forbidden Planet structure. But, the movie depends on the story above all else and if it is worth your time because of its "entertainment" quality. After Life was over, I was surprised by its solid narrative structure and fantastic visuals that it sometime scared me but fully entertained me from beginning to end.
The movie opens as the crew of the Pilgrim 7 attempt to get a capsule from Mars. Engineer Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds) steps out and tries to grasp the capsule and successfully does. Biologist Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare) studies the sample they have recovered. It starts as an amoeba but continues to evolve as it grow out its limbs and even begins moving, confirming that the specimen is alive. Meanwhile, on Earth, people around the world are following the mission and kids from elementary school even name the specimen, "Calvin".
A crew in the International Space Station has been residing in space: Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), Captain Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson), Commander Ekaterina "Kat" Golovkina (Olga Dihovichnaya) and pilot Sho Murakami (Hiroyuki Canada). They have a tight-knit group as they bond over their personal lives. As Calvin continues evolving, a piece of equipment in the lab is malfunctioning and as Hugh goes into inspect the "alien", it grabs his hand and hell breaks loose.
Sometimes you got to throw intelligence out the window and sometimes you got to substitute intelligence with joy while watching a scary horror space movie. This movie balances both intelligence and entertainment real well because you buy this cast ensemble as a team to have the effort to find out what this "alien" is and to avoid all costs to bring it back to Earth. However, the detail in this movie is quite special as the majority of the movie is zero-gravity and that creates another layer of challenges for both the actors and also the screenplay itself as to how to get the audience involved in this story.
Jake Gyllenhaal gives a solid performance once again, however, his character was lackluster because he did not have as much depth or charisma compared to his other cast mates. He is basically a doctor trying to solve problems and create solutions as to how to get out of the mess. Ryan Reynolds is a standout infusing some life and charisma into the crew even though he is a supporting player. Rebecca Ferguson and also Ariyon Bakare give solid performances as they provide some intensity and quiet knowledge and insight into their characters.
Director David Espinoza creates an input of terror and suspense that will endorse you into the experience of quiet moments and also jump-out-of-your-seat moments. Also, in the beginning of the movie, the screenplay creates some esoteric dialogue that few people will understand, however, again, it will get you involved into the story and also with science and technology in general. The ending could divide some viewers as to how the narrative has played out but I think it works and goes into another direction that jolted me with a bit of surprise. Espinoza's movie has familiar elements from other movies such as Alien, Sunshine, Gravity or Event Horizon, but, at its very best, it is a solid sci-fi adventure that will leave you breathless and with curiosity after the movie is over.
***
Comments
Post a Comment