Life (MA15+)
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal
Forget this little gem if you’re looking for science fiction – it’s straight-out horror.
It’s hard to know where to start with “Life”, a movie with B Grade monster sensibilities, an A Grade cast … and an A-plus monster.
That said, it does achieve a remarkable monster indeed. If humans are most scared of spiders and snakes, then this creature feature does an enviable task of combining both horrors into the sum of many, many nightmares.
Oh … and did I mention it’s smart as a whip, as well?
Grown in a lab on the International Space Station from a scrap of Martian soil, the early warning comes when one of the crew notes that all cells are identical – so it’s “all muscle, all eyes and all brain”.
Yep, you just know that’s going to go well.
Inevitably, the not-so-friendly Martian gets out of the lab and what ensues is an Alien re-make with a twist. Make that many, many horrible twists. Much fun, good times and larrikin hijinks do not ensue.
Last word to my son, a challenging 15 years of age, who penned this remarkable – and accurate – review:
“That was hands down the most depressing, catastrophic and intimidating movie I have ever seen. It s**** on your emotions and just when you think maybe you will get over it, it pushes you off a cliff … onto rocks … to die a slow, painful death … not even kidding.”
That’s my boy.
– Jason Beck
