Life

— “Life” is way too familiar for those of us who’ve been seeing films for 40 years or more because it goes well past paying homage to “Alien” to outright stealing much of its storyline. I suppose the bright side is that they’ve stolen parts of an excellent sci-fi thriller and managed to do a pretty good job of things. I was on board with the first half of the film and not only was the story written and paced well, it was visually exciting too. I thought it was less effective in the second half, when things were too formulaic. The actors all deserve credit, for believable but not over-the-top deliveries, unlike the music which was irritatingly insistent. The film’s a cut above mediocre but can’t shake remaining in the shadow of “Alien”.

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[2017. 103 min. Directed by Daniel Espinosa. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ryan Reynolds]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/life-2017