Life- Review

Today I saw the premie

re of Life with a friend and let me tell you something, it will blow your mind. If you're expecting it to be some stereotypical space movie with plot holes and a whole lotta cliché, strap yourselves in and go pay the admission price to watch this film.

This movie features the talents of Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare and Olga Dihovichnaya.

Without taking too much away from this film, it is a science fiction horror film directed by Daniel Espinosa and written by Rhett Reese. It goes about the lives of six International Space Station members and their first discovery of life on Mars.

The performances: Jake Gyllenhaal never ceases to be an amazing actor and if you've seen an abundance of his films, you'll know that he is easily able to adapt and stay in character. I found him to be a relatable character in some scenes where there's more dialogue and less conflict. He did a brilliant job of taking his role and amplifying that a hundred times.

While Ryan Reynolds is seen in much of the trailer, his role is slightly less important in this movie and though we think we've seen him everywhere in the trailer, we don't see as much of that in the movie. As usual, he is funny and enjoys throwing around a few cuss words here and there so his role is definitely one that will make you smile...for now.

In every movie, there is usually a more serious character that expresses importance. That character is played by Rebecca Ferguson. She is a strong-willed and able-bodied woman and shows no signs of weakness or falters to keep in role. Typically you will find that she and Jake are the most important characters in this movie and I'm wondering whether I was the only one who thought they had a bit of chemistry.

Hiro Sanada played a very touching role. He was compassionate, determined and courageous. I wish I could have seen more dialogue from him at times of rest in the film but nonetheless, he added a very nice touch to being crew member 4/6.

Ariyon Bakare is known for many British TV shows and being an extra in some big hit films (such as Star Wars: Rouge One and The Dark Knight) but I believe he should be known now for having a major part in this movie. He had the perfect amount of verbal and non-verbal acting transitions and the action starts out from him first.

Lastly, Olga Dihovichnaya's role was wonderful here. This is actually her first big movie and I believe she did a fantastic job on her acting despite it not citing that she had any previous acting experience aside from working for a television company. One particular scene she was in made me want to cry because of how well she portrayed her character and how the other characters reacted to her.

The cons: I honestly can't mention some of the cons here in fear that it may spoil the movie so if you have seen this already, you'll probably understand one of the issues I'm talking about here. Aside from that, perhaps this movie could have benefited from some individual backstories from the characters but in saying that, it wasn't all that necessary. Some parts in this movie will make you go "huh?" and other parts "Dude NO!" but in all honesty, I think this movie was brilliantly presented with very few faults.

Let me tell you, the way the imagery of Space was captured in this movie was beautiful. Obviously since this movie is a horror it will make you reconsider a career as an astronaut (maybe) but it never once took away the beauty that the Solar System has beyond Earth and that's all thanks to Seamus McGarvey.

Again, I am very pleased to have spent my $13 Student Edge movie voucher on this and believe that everyone should at least give it a watch, even if you don't like space movies...this isn't your average space movie at all.

Score: 9/10

Rating: MA15+ strong science fiction themes and violence