¾ Life
(R)A space probe returns from Mars, delivering soil samples to the International Space Station. Within the samples, a single-celled organism is discovered, the first proof of life outside of Earth. The six-person crew of the station is thrilled about this. (Everyone on Earth is excited, too, and one elementary school wins the right to name the organism. They name it "Calvin," after their school.) The crew are even more excited when Calvin soon starts growing into a multicellular life form, which adapts to its environment remarkably quickly. But excitement turns to terror when it attacks the British scientist who was observing it, Dr. Hugh Derry, crushing his hand. Well... I should say the rest of the crew includes the Russian mission commander, Ekaterina Golovkina; the British quarantine officer, Dr. Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson); the American medical officer, Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal); Japanese systems engineer Sho Murakami; and American engineer Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds). Anyway, most of the movie is just the crew trying to stay alive, while Calvin tries to kill them. And of course, they also have to try to make sure that Calvin can't get to Earth.
I thought it was a pretty decent movie. Nice visuals, good acting, good drama, good horror. Honestly, I have no complaints about anything. Still, I don't feel any need to ever watch it again. It's all been done before, in more memorable films. Which is not to say I think there was no point in making the movie; I mean, if I said that about this, I'd have to say it about every movie genre. And that would just be silly. I do think the movie stands on its own merits, whether or not you want to compare it to any other sci-fi horror movies that came before it. It has its own identity, and it was definitely worth watching.