Whenever we've talked about the International Space Station, it was from a scientific standpoint, including the experiments carried out there, evaluations of new structures, and of course, the lives of the astronauts who reside on it. However, in the movie Life with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds, the station becomes fertile ground for a group of six astronauts to feel the terror firsthand while dealing with an extraterrestrial life form…
Science fiction gets serious again
The last few years have been very good for science fiction, and I'm not talking about the invasion of comic-book movies or far-away galaxies. Gravity grossed more than $700 million, while last year The Martian came very close to winning the Oscar for Best Picture. This makes us believe there is renewed interest in science fiction with a broad scientific profile (I say that despite the serious errors Gravity has), and so we arrive at Life, a new Columbia Pictures (read Sony) film that takes place aboard the International Space Station. The most important structure in Earth orbit is the ideal place for all kinds of experiments, however, all it takes is an external agent to blow the protocol sky-high…
A familiar threat in a confined space
A standard team of six astronauts, a drifting satellite, a sample from Mars, and the first extraterrestrial life form are the pillars of Life. Granted, the concept of an 'alien on the satellite' is not exactly new, and some specialized outlets did not hesitate to call the film a hybrid between Gravity and The Thing, but come on: who doesn't like seeing astronauts leaving behind any sense of duty and responsibility to survive? Besides, the International Space Station is not that big, and any chance of running is nullified by microgravity.
Two trailers and a full cast
Sony released two trailers for Life, one for the US market and one for international distribution. I'll let each reader decide which is best, but personally I lean toward the first. Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson, Olga Dihovichnaya, Ariyon Bakare, Hiroyuki Sanada and Alexandre Nguyen compose the cast of Life. Its release date has conflicts. One of the trailers says 'Memorial Day', which equates to May 29, 2017, although there are sources that speak of the 24th, and others of the 26th. The point is that it was going to debut in March, and it was decided to apply a slight delay due to strong competition that month (Logan, Beauty and the Beast, Kong, King Arthur, Power Rangers and Ghost in the Shell).
