Life (2017) / YMMV

Accidental Aesop: Considering the alien only started attacking after prodded awake with an electrical probe, the movie could be construed as a warning against trying to hasten natural processes.
Alternative Character Interpretation: Is Calvin truly a sadistic monster, or just a scared confused creature trying to stop the main cast from hurting it, the sadistic actions it takes could be interpreted as a way to scare the cast, with it only just learning how to do so coming across as evil rather than Blue-and-Orange Morality that would be probable due to it being an alien species very different from anything else. Also supported by the almost affectionate way Calvin caresses the rat; he only kills it once it bites him.
Captain Obvious Reveal: If you watched the climax and asked yourself "What would make for a really obvious twist right now?", you probably would have guessed that the pod with Calvin in it was the one going to Earth.
- Indeed, The Law of Conservation of Detail sets in when you realize the film didn't have to show anything that happened after landing, if everything was fine now.
Fanon Welding: A fan theory that this movie was a Stealth Prequel to Venom popped up right around immediately after it was announced that Sony was scheduling a Venom movie. The fact that a minor shot from Spider-Man 3 was reused for this movie added fuel to the fire. While ultimately proven false, Daniel Espinosa would go on to direct Morbius.
Just Here for Godzilla: Invoked by the film's marketing itself; amidst lower-than-expected box office projections, the film piggybacked off Reynolds's recent A-list vault from Deadpool and put his death scene front and center in commercials with social media pull quotes from moviegoers saying it was the best sequence in the film.
Narm:
- Calvin growing a face for no reason other than as an attempt to make it look more scary, as it was already established that it doesn't need a face since it can see and eat with its whole body, comes across as laughably trying too hard. The fact that the face seems to sport a Slasher Smile doesn't help.
- How can you not crack a little bit of a smile when the characters, at the movie's climax, recite Goodnight Moon?
- Sure, when it was a harmless little alien, the name "Calvin" was acceptable. But hearing the astronauts call it that when the chaos starts is a tad chuckle-inducing.
- For those familiar with cheesy sticky-octopus toys, Calvin's occasional resemblance to a Wacky Wall Walker as it tumbles along the station's surfaces can really break the mood.
- At the end of the film after fishermen open the pod, we cut to an overhead view and the movie pauses for a very long time with nothing happening before going to black. With just how everything seems to stop for so long, it almost makes one think Calvin just died on reentry anyway, potentially diffusing any impact the Downer Ending tried to have.
Narm Charm: It might be a bit cheesy, but Jake Gyllenhaal's performance is enough to elevate the Good Night Moon scene a bit, especially hearing his voice crack and cut off into sobs on the line "Goodnight, nobody."
Nightmare Fuel:
- It may be narm to some, but Calvin is pretty creepy-looking. And it progressively gets freakier, even sporting what resembles a Slasher Smile. Ugh.
- Rory's death. Calvin eats the inside of his body. Not a pleasant way to go.
  - To further elaborate: Calvin goes inside Rory's mouth, despite Rory's horrified expression and futile attempts to stop him. And then he starts coughing up blood droplets and can't breathe. His face grows more strained with veins present. Then he stops moving. And he just floats there, as huge droplets of blood float out of Rory's mouth. Then Calvin emerges out of his bloodied mouth, appearing much, MUCH bigger.
- The ending. Due to a collision, the escape pods switch courses. The one with Dr. North in it is stranded in space forever, and the one with Dr. Jordan and Calvin land on Earth. And then the earthbound pod is opened by two unsuspecting fishermen, unleashing humanity's doom. Even if you saw it coming a mile away, it's still a scary thought.
Rooting for the Empire: With how stupid the humans are, it sometimes isn’t hard to root for Calvin.
So Okay, It's Average: Generally regarded as competently made movie that is held back by a story that is a very standard “humans meet hostile alien” movie with little to differentiate it. It does not help the protagonists are very stupid and the antagonist is a boring Invincible Villain, which makes it harder to care what is happening.
Spiritual Adaptation:
- With Alien: Covenant following the new continuity established by Prometheus, this film is the closest thing to an actual remake of Alien, with the bonus point of Calvin starting as the black goo and eventually looking like the Trilobite.
- It's also reminiscent of the short story "The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis" by Clark Ashton Smith, being about a kind of malicious Blob Monster that wiped out an ancient Martian civilization and now comes to threaten a group of humans who ignorantly stepped into its domains.
Tearjerker: “Goodnight, nobody.”
They Copied It, So It Sucks!: Virtually all the reviews, even the most positive ones, sport the complaint that Life is too similar to Alien and its many imitators to fully work as its own film, especially given how predictable most of the plot points end up being as a consequence.

YMMV / Life (2017)

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