Let’s say that, one day – perhaps in the very distant future, perhaps in our lifetime – we discover life beyond our planet Earth. What kind of creatures do you think they will be? Will they be kind, gentle creatures, hoping to form a bond and share their intelligence? Or will they be bloodthirsty shriek-monsters, hoping only to inhabit our bodies and crush our souls?
If you poll the movies, the consensus seems to lean towards the latter – for every Close Encounters or Contact, there’s a dozen Aliens (and Alienses?), Event Horizons, and Ghost of Marses (not to mention Jason X and Leprechaun 4: In Space, movies that, well, probably shouldn’t be mentioned). And the shadows of those movies are all over the trailer for Life, the new Jake Gyllenhaal/Ryan Reynolds vehicle that is, thankfully, not a remake of the 1999 Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence movie.
So, yeah, it kinda looks like all those other terror-in-space movies, with a dab of Gravity-ish special effects thrown in. Let’s just say director Daniel Espinosa’s best-known previous film, 2012’s Safe House (also co-starring Reynolds) didn’t exactly exhibit a flair for transcending formula. We’ll find out if it’s creepy good stuff or more of the same when Life hits theaters next Memorial Day.