I've been looking forward to this for awhile and decided I better see it this week, as the poor BO returns may mean limited showings next week.

Let's talk about the poor BO returns first.  I'm surprised, actually, because it has some star power, and for the most part, good reviews.  But, on a $58 Million budget (which is pretty low for a flick like this), it's only pulled in $34 Million NABO, and another $28 Million Internationally.  Just goes to show, you never really know what's going to be a hit and what's going to flop.

I really enjoyed this.  Sure, it hearkens back to Alien and all the other Alien ripoffs, but for me, it felt pretty fresh, maybe because of the alien itself, which I thought was very well done.

I liked how much of the film has our Protags "floating", whether in or out of the ISS.  The alien also floats, which is cool.  Sets looked good, outer space looked good, and I really don't have any visual complaints.

Another big plus was the ending, which I won't spoil here, but let's just say, don't think you know how this will end, because you don't.

Characterization is an issue, and I think the fault lies in not giving our Protags enough screen time before things get crazy.  The movie runs 1 hour and 43 minutes, and IMO, it should have included another 10 minutes or so getting to know our peeps.

The only other issues I have are 2 "murky" scenes, in which I'm not 100% sure what exactly happened...or why.  Again, a few more minutes of runtime, and a little more light would have fixed these.

And...yeah...I wish we could have had some nudity and more violence/gore, but that's just the way I am.

All in all, a very good flick that I will remember and look forward to seeing again.

Grade - B+/A-

^ Right on the money. The flaws in this one are exactly as Jeff says, and they're not particularly big ones. It was good nasty fun, familiar but original enough, and came through where it counted -- great antagonist, solid scares.

Sad to see this not having a little more success, as it's a great night out at the movies.

The marketing was pretty humdrum. It looked every inch a cliche space monster movie.. And to be fair it pretty much was. There isn't a single new beat in this. It's a less scary Alien with less interesting characters and creature design.

It was still good. I think Jeff would agree with me that originality isn't all that important if a film is well produced. Just because you've enjoyed a beefburger before doesn't mean you can't enjoy one again.

It's not an unmissable film, but it's worth the watch.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films I think Jeff would agree with me that originality isn't all that important if a film is well produced. Just because you've enjoyed a beefburger before doesn't mean you can't enjoy one again.

Totally agree with you, brother!  It's all about what shows up on film.

I think the production value was quite high for a film with so much FX, and although little was "new", to me at least, it was obvious that alot of thought went into this.

I liked the creature design very much, BTW...especially early on, while it was still growing.  That kind of "creature" is tough to deal with, as it is so strong with those tentacles.

I've heard that some believe this is the lead in to a planned sequel, but with the poor BO returns, it looks doubtful.

Painfully mediocre.

As a die hard Alien/Aliens fan, I was okay with a blatant rip off. But Life brings nothing new to the table.

The CGI sucks and is anything but immersive. Oh and the dialogue is piss poor. I nearly died when the one chick said that she "fucking hated that thing." Oh really? You fucking hate the space creature that killed all of your friends? I had no idea.

The ending was probably the best part of the film. However, it didn't feel earned. By the end, I just didn't care.

Maybe I wouldn't have hated Life if it were worse. However, I'd rather watch a shitty film than a forgettable one.