LIFE [2017]

Directed by Daniel Espinosa

Written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Olga Dihovichnaya, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare

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An incredibly apt title, Life is much more about the finding of new life on Mars. Almost all decisions that the characters must make involve the risking of their life. One character remains in outer space despite deteriorating health conditions as he hates life on Earth. Another misses his family. The premise seems incredibly basic, but there is more to be found. This finding of new life though is of course the crux of the story.

Six astronauts are aboard space station ISS, waiting on a package from an unmanned craft that has materials from Mars. Resident scientist Hugh Derry coaxes life into what they have found, and these efforts are celebrated world-wide, as they shown on big-screens in the middle of large cities. A local school-girl has won a competition: what to name it. The crew are all smiles as they answer questions posed to them by school-children.

This isn’t a ‘reboot’ of any kind, but it takes heavy influences from ‘Alien’ as the life-form morphs into a creature that isn’t friendly, and the astronauts learn quickly that the thing is smart. Once its intentions and IQ are established, a sense of dread washes over the audience and the sense of tension only increases as time goes by.

Compounding this impending sense of doom is the claustrophobic nature of the station, not unlike that of being in a submarine. They know that they are stuck in a small environment with a creature who’s capabilities are unknown, as this fact is certainly felt by the viewer. This claustrophobia is captured visually early into the film with a long take as the camera follows different crew members, who always seem to be in tight quarters. There are also no scenes that take place on Earth, establishing the disconnect and distance between the team and their home planet. They are completely alone.

Visually, the film is a treat, with unique camerawork and a truly unforgettable sequence to establish the film; taking cues from 2001, the space station slightly emerges from the shadows created by the sun, unafraid to take its time in revealing itself. When it does, it looks remarkable and the entire sequence is hard to forget. The design of the station it interesting in itself, as it doesn’t look particularly modern.

As the gravity of the situation sky-rockets the team react in different ways; unfortunately this is not enough, as most of the characters are quite thin and it can be quite hard to care about their fate. Ryan Reynolds’ character, for example, is essentially the typical arrogant smart ass who seems selfish but deep down, he has a big heart. The tense action hides this at times, but it is hard not to notice. Jake Gyllenhaal’s character is ignoring his declining health to avoid living on Earth. This theme isn’t explored at all, and we are simply left to wonder why. Don’t expect any clues.

This film’s weakest link is the dialogue. It is delivered well, all actors are great here, but there isn’t much that is memorable. The action of the film is certainly a different story, but it feels that apart from reacting to what is happening, the characters say little to reveal anything about themselves. This of course only adds to the thin quality most characters already posses, and consequently many themes that indeed revolve around life aren’t mined for deeper meaning.

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Far too melodramatic at times, including a score that doesn’t leave an impression at all, this is a good film that exceeds expectations, considering the date of release, and the amount of cash being thrown at the screen regarding CGI. It is much more than a pretty film located in space, though some leaps in logic may throw you off-course, and given the themes that were presented early, it certainly feels like there are avenues left unexplored. This really could have been about life in many more ways than one, but it rather focuses on tension and action. It certainly takes some unexpected turns, and scenes involving the creature look amazing. Ultimately, this is a well-executed story with a fantastic final act, and an ending to be remembered. It just could have been so, so much more.

Two short of a sixer

4/6

SPLIT (2017)

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Written by M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson

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The Sixth Sense was no doubt a brilliant movie. Perhaps it is the quality of this older work, and the lack thereof within his recent work, that had folks praising his last creation, The Visit, as a ‘return to form’, despite the fact it, among its other glaring flaws, rather obviously used dementia as a stepping stone for scares. This smacks of lazy writing (from a self-proclaimed ‘writer/director’), and we see the same thing in Split, which centres around Kevin, a man suffering from with D.I.D. (more commonly known as multiple personality disorder) and again, this is the launch-pad for his story, which is simple: Kevin has a ton of different personalities, and one has decided to take over and kidnap some teenage girls. Well, perhaps it isn’t quite that simple…

There are many movies that explore this disorder and the cinematic possibilities it offers. The problem with Split is that it tries oh-so-hard to legitimise the disorder via a lot of time spent with Kevin’s doctor. Yet at the same time, supernatural elements are teased at. Trying to present the reality of D.I.D, a vastly misunderstood disorder, while simultaneously referring to supernatural elements, is idiotic, and just a tad insulting to the community of folk who already have to deal with the stigma that surrounds mental health. This film certainly won’t be helping in that regard.

A horror film about a person with mental illness is one thing, but when that film bastardises what that condition is, and further from that, actually uses it as the butt of most of the humour? Is this a new sub-genre of exploitation cinema?

This incredibly over the top presentation of D.I.D. is perfect for a film, for fiction, not to mention being the perfect vehicle for McAvoy to show off his chops. But as said, the film is trying to have his doctor explain the illness. To convince people it is real. Yet the different personalities we see aren’t just absurd, they are laughably unrealistic and literally caused many fellow audience members to laugh aloud at how silly the presentation was. Laughter kills tension and fear like nothing else, and it succeeds here, replacing many a suspenseful moment with a ‘hey, look how silly this man is dressed! And he has an English accent!’ type moment, killing any trace of atmosphere.

The third act is where supernatural elements come into play, and the less said about it, the better. If this was the direction M. Night wanted to go in, avoiding to try and explain to the audience in detail just what D.I.D. is seems like a no-brainer. But if he did want to do that, all supernatural elements should have been shelved entirely. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. As for this film’s final ‘twist’…. Again, the less said, the better. Not only is it underwhelming, it is infuriating and feels very much like M. Night didn’t know how to end his own movie.

Despite making a complete mockery of D.I.D. by trying to legitimise it while simultaneously presenting it in an absurd, exaggerated and almost insulting fashion, this film isn’t a complete loss. M. Night has obviously done his homework, as he has enlisted the talents of West Dylan Thordson, who has composed a brilliant horror score that doesn’t manipulate its viewers, rather inducing a sense of dread with its deep, stringed sounds, almost as if someone was torturing a double bass. Anna Taylor-Joy, fresh from a fantastic performance in The Witch, is on board as the only captive with a semblance of a personality. The film has also been shot by Mike Gioulakis, who previously worked on It Follows. Shayamalan has been doing his horror-homework, but without the writing talent he seemingly once possessed, this homework was a complete waste of time.

God knows what someone suffering from this awful affliction would think of this silliness. For example, one of his personalities is diabetic, requiring insulin shots! Never mind that shooting up insulin is a good way to kill yourself, one of the 23 personalities believes he has diabetes! Yes, it is only a movie, exaggeration is to be expected. But to suggest that a single personality can require insulin but the others cannot? Tying supernatural elements with commentary on a real, horrible mental disorder, and further from that, attempting to legitimise it?? It would seem then that M. Night has done as much as possible to sabotage his own film.

The structure was there for a claustrophobic thriller. M. Night unfortunately turns it into an awkward comedy that isn’t tense at all, and much like his last effort, a lot of the comedy is the audience laughing at how absurd the situations presented to us are. There are very few legitimately funny moments… but hold on a sec’, wasn’t this supposed to be a horror movie?

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Another one for the bargain bin. But hey, it was slightly better than the intolerable The Visit. And that brings us full circle. Would anyone be bothering with his last two movies if an unknown name had made them? Would the critical reception be different if he hadn’t failed so bad previously? A ‘return to form’ can be a very, very different thing from a decent, solid flick, which this certainly is not. McAvoy is essentially the only thing worth watching, though it is hard not to laugh at how absurd the personalities created are. It is also hard not to laugh at the entire last 20 minutes, as what was a solid but flawed film turns into an absolute mess of half-finished ideas.

Two beers out of a sixer

2/6