Life, written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and directed by Daniel Espinosa, raises the question, “What is the value of originality?” Why? Because very little about Life is original. (Potential for a quip, there, but I’ll let it go.) Life delivers body penetration in the form of a male crew member being raped orally by an alien, human bodies used as hosts by a parasitic creature which starts out small and gradually grows to terrifying proportions, and a rapidly dwindling crew’s attempt to blow the monster out of an airlock. Indeed, even film’s poster is a rip-off of Alien’s facehugger clinging to Kane’s helmet! And yet I enjoyed Life. The writing, directing, acting and cinematography are all solid. Not “new” in any sense, but solid. Perhaps I enjoyed Life because I have an affinity for the Alien-inspired science fiction sub-genre of which the film is very much a part. If I watch a heist movie or a rom-com, I want to see something I’ve never seen before. When it comes to Alien-inspired films, I lower the bar and am happy – if not ecstatic – with a story told by competent professionals. Which is precisely what Life is – no more, no less.
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