“Life” (R)
“Alien” meets “Gravity” meets a smattering of other sci-fi thrillers in “Life,” a space tale that suffers from the lack of originality, but makes up for it in thrills.
Taking place almost entirely aboard the International Space Station, a crew of astronauts from around the globe (including Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson and Ryan Reynolds) marvel at the creation of a Martian organism, which rapidly grows into squid-like creature that’s hell-bent on killing each one of them.
Director Daniel Espinosa (“Safe Room”) creates a tense atmosphere as the film builds to an inevitable conclusion with a “Twilight Zone”-like twist. Espinosa gets high marks especially for creating a pair of on-screen demises that may never have been done before. It’s too bad the rest of the film couldn’t have been as inspired.
Lammometer: 6 (out of 10)
LINK: See Tim Lammers’ archived video and audio interviews, including Denzel Washington, Casey Affleck, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Hugh Jackman, Francis Ford Coppola and more on his new YouTube channel.
“T2 Trainspotting” (R)
Director Danny Boyle reunites his incredible cast from the original “Trainspotting” 21 years ago with the cheekily titled “T2,” a compelling sequel to the original crime tale about the dangers surrounding a group of heroin junkies in Scotland in the 1990s.
“T2” appropriately picks up 20 years after the events of the first film, where Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), returns to Scotland after he stole 16 thousand pounds from his friends to bolt from the country and build a new life in Amsterdam.
But when that life falls apart, he decides to try to make amends with two members of the group (Jonny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremer); a move that puts him in peril because the other friend, the psychotic Franco Begbie (Robert Carlyle, who is frightening and funny at the same time) wants Renton dead in the worst way.
Marked by great performances, fantastic tunes and inventive direction by Boyle, fans of the original will especially love “T2,” which perfectly brings the tale of Renton and his mates completely full circle after a 20-year wait.
Lammometer: 8 (out of 10)
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