L I F E

Astronauts aboard an international Space Station discover the first evidence of life on Mars while looking at samples in their research laboratory-a unicellular organism.  It is also dormant until they wake it up and start to nurture it.  It is a wonder…extraterrestrial life!  And it even seems cute at first, they name it “Calvin.”  But apparently, this organism is smarter, faster growing and far more dangerous than they first realize.  It inevitably escapes and runs amok, with not unexpected devastation.  Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson are three of the astronauts who realize the danger and try to destroy the life form before it continues to grow and, perhaps, pose a threat to earth itself.  Sounds a lot like the Alien movies, doesn’t it?  This sci-fi, horror movie isn’t up to the same standard of suspense and terror as those movies, and not simply because this one lacks a hero like Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley.  There was too much gut wrenching gore and not enough character development or plot for my tastes.  SPOILER ALERT:  The ending of this movie is a big cop out and not what I want to see in my movies.  I would say skip this one and find a rerun of Alien or Aliens.