![]() ![]() Clearly determined to rival Emmanuel Lubezki’s Oscar-winning work on “Gravity,” DP Seamus McGarvey hovers just over the shoulders of the crew during this opening scene, as they diligently collaborate to recover a Martian-specimen-collecting capsule carrying God knows what.Īt first, the alien being - which is soon christened “Calvin” - appears to be an innocuous, inert single-celled life form, visible only beneath a high-powered microscope. The six-person ensemble make up the Mars Pilgrim 7 Mission, sardined aboard a claustrophobic space station whose Nigel Phelps-designed floorplan proves positively mind-boggling - this despite a stunning establishing tour, during which, via an “unbroken” (but vfx-assisted) nearly-seven-minute single take, the camera makes the rounds of what will soon be a $200 billion coffin. Working in its favor is an international cast - even more inclusive than “The Martian’s” multi-culti support crew - with the added bonus that everyone, not just white-boy A-listers Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds, has an important role to play. Assuming that “Passengers” hasn’t quashed audiences’ appetite for space-station movies, and that sci-fi enthusiasts wouldn’t rather simply wait for Ridley Scott’s fast-approaching “Alien: Covenant,” then director Daniel Espinosa’s mostly-smart, plenty-stylish entry could eke out a nice box-office life. Still, overlook its inevitable wah-wah ending (cue sad trombone sound effect), and “Life” is far better than the trailers made this me-too outer-space opus look. While the edited version delivers the plot well enough, you'll laugh along with the theatrical version much more.Why is it that practically every time sci-fi characters discover evidence of extraterrestrial life, they are just as swiftly confronted with creative new ways to die? As “we are not alone” scenarios go, “Life” is no exception, although it’s unusually intelligent for so much of its running time - picture white-knuckle “Alien” hijinks grounded by “Gravity”-strong human drama - that the lame-brained last act comes as a real disappointment (unless you’re determined to read this Sony-released Mars-attacks thriller as an origin story for Spider-Man’s Venom nemesis, which it is not). I was prompted to write this review having just seen it uncut for the first time. #Life movie movie#Watch this movie please, and if you've seen it watch it again. Lee Ermey as the racist bad guy was genius too. I've been repeating Bernie Mac's lines and the "cornbread" scene for years. The rest of the cast is as underappreciated as this movie is in general. ![]() Their love-hate "old married couple" bickering will leave you in stitches. They don't do that so much here, but these guys age from mid-20s to 90s convincingly. Murphy with the Nutty Professor characters, demonstrates serious acting ability while creating laughs. While on the surface, Claude and Ray are sentenced to life in prison for a crime they didn't commit, the real story here is about life-the ups and downs, the choices you make, and the friends you sometimes can't stand but ultimately depend upon along the way.īoth Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence became known for, along with being very funny, the characters they create. It certainly is no serious take on a subject that would be all-too serious elsewhere, but the double entendre of the title belies the reason, besides all the talent present, why this film works so well. ![]() If you go to the movies to be entertained, it doesn't get much better than this. ![]()
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