LIFE - Official Movie Review // Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson

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LIFE is the story of astronauts on the International Space Station who must contend with the life form they pick up on Mars. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson, Hiroyuki Sanada, Olga Dihovichnaya and Ariyon Bakare.

For a partial transcript of the video, see the notes at the bottom.

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Movies From A To Zoe is a weekly movie review and analysis show that comes out every Monday morning about current films. I discuss symbolism, themes and eagle-eye details to watch for in new releases. If you haven't seen the movie yet, don't worry because it's a spoiler-free review. If you have seen the movie, this should give you a deeper appreciation of it and some things to watch for if you go back a second time. I also include cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes information when available!

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Some highlights from the video are as follows:

To be honest, I didn’t have high hopes for this movie. It looked a bit thriller/suspenseful and those, combined with alien movies, typically aren’t my favorite genre. I’m thrilled to report back, though, that I was so, so wrong! This turned out to be everything an alien/space/suspense movie should be and more. The acting was good, the story was good and the music was good. I’m not saying that I’m ready to hand out any Oscars, but this is a great example of what a Hollywood-ready, 2 hour brainless bit of enjoyment should be.

I have to give extra kudos to the alien design as well. I think designing an alien must be one of the most difficult parts of making any sort of alien movie. There’s a fine line between what has already been done and what audiences generally expect aliens to look like. If you deviate too much for the expected, then the aliens look “fake”—or as fake as a fake alien can be. If you stick too much to the norm, they just look like something that has been done before. I loved this alien—it was equal parts creepy and actually beautiful, it reminded me a bit of a leaf in some aspects. I think that the beauty may have made it that much more creepy, in fact.

Without giving anything away, I’ll also say that I like how this movie took a lot of risks that movies aren’t always willing to take.

Overall, this is a great popcorn movie that’s well made with good actors. I’m surprised to even hear myself say that I’d even watch it again.

Now, for some eagle eye details to watch for. This first one is more eagle eye knowledge than anything else. The astronauts give fellow astronaut Sho Murakami, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, a copy of the children’s book “Good Night Moon” when his wife on Earth gives birth. The classic children’s story was written by Margaret Wise Brown. Both of us are alumna of the same university, Hollins University, which is actually known for its creative writing program.

Listen for the brief reference to taking a photo for Instagram. It’s brief, but I think it grounds the movie in a specific time period that actually works to its detriment.

Finally, see if you can spot the USA1 sign that’s just above the sleeping pods.