Movie Review: Life - No Matter How Incredible Rebecca Ferguson’s Performance Was, Daniel Espinosa’s Sci-fi Thriller LIFE Has Anything But

Life    From IMDB

Review by Landon Funk

I honestly do not know what I expected. After seeing the trailer for LIFE nearly a year ago, I remember thinking, “Wait, is this not the plot of ALIEN?” I was upset and felt ripped off by major studios. Unlike the usual blockbuster garbage that is based off comic books, this was a film that was not even trying to hide that it was a rip off from Ridley Scott’s science fiction masterpiece. Nevertheless, I went to go see LIFE because I had faith in writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, two lads whose claim to fame is their fantastic script for DEADPOOL. Also, I was taken aback that up-and-comer Rebecca Ferguson received second billing after Jake Gyllenhaal and before Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds. How could someone who has only had small parts receive such a massive part accompanied by a multimillion dollar paycheck?


Alas, LIFE was such garbage that I had to physically restrain myself from leaving the theater. Director Daniel Espinosa mirrored Scott’s ALIEN and Cuaron’s GRAVITY almost exactly, and the found Martian is anything but scary. The witty banter between Gyllenhaal and Reynolds was at best cute, but then that goes away after twenty minutes. The rest of the cast, while diverse, are stereotypical, smart, NASA scientists with little to no depth.

Rebecca Ferguson's performance
stood out.       Photo; IMDB

That being said, Rebecca Ferguson delivered the best performance of everyone as Miranda North, the leader of the group who has programmed the entire mission. Once the alien escapes and starts to terrorize the ship, she remains level headed yet scared out of her mind. While the rest of the film was painful to watch, Ferguson offered a brief and welcome respite every time she came on screen. I did not understand her billing before, but, now, I get it. Thirty-three-year-old Rebecca Ferguson is going to be a star.

The film was predictable from start to finish. At no point was I startled. At no point did I gasp or get cold chills. LIFE tries to show how precious each day is, but it ends up being a quasi-horror about why we should not trust “the other.” This has been done over and over again. With so many films coming out about science fiction and race – ones that deal with “the other”- LIFE really needed to be different. Like a popular middle schooler, this film blended in with the rest of its genre and will soon be forgotten.

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WOMAN-O-METER RATING: 

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 For A Review of Before I Fall by Landon Funk click here:
http://www.suzeebehindthescenes.com/2017/03/review-before-i-fall-movie-ry-russo.html
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