Life - 2017 film review

I've always liked science fiction, although I prefer to consume it in fairly small doses. Two of the best sci-films I've seen over the years are Alien and Gravity, and it's fair to say that in various respects Life, which dates from 2017, is indebted to those movies. (There's also, arguably, a touch of The Blob about it!) Yet although the storyline is far from original, the film has enough about it to be worth watching. And the script, despite weaknesses in terms of characterisation, is strong in terms of suspense and occasional bursts of action.

The setting is an international space station crewed by half a dozen astronauts. A probe returns from Mars, bringing various soil samples from the 'Red Planet', and a British biologist, Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare) studies the material collected, he manages to revive a dormant cell - so yes, there is life on Mars! And before long, the cell grows and becomes increasingly complex. Its juvenile charm earns it a nickname - Calvin.

When Calvin goes into hibernation, Hugh tries to stimulate it, with unfortunate results. Calvin turns nasty and does serious damage to Hugh's hand. Calvin's next move is to devour a lab rat, rather spectacularly. And continues to grow. Rory, an engineer played by Ryan Reynolds, tries to rescue Hugh, but suffers the consequences...

It falls to Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson to do battle with Calvin - and, just possibly, save life on earth from an extremely hostile invasion. There is limited scope for the two fine actors to display the full range of their skills (a sentimental scene involving reminiscences about a children's story doesn't really work) but the tension is ratcheted up successfully, and there's a plot twist at the end that I enjoyed.