‘Life’ is dark

Alien rampages aboard space station in tense, mostly satisfying bit of sci-fi-horror mix

Mars attacks and an “Alien” movie meets “Gravity” in “Life,” a largely engrossing and unsettling if also not wholly original slice of science-fiction. ¶ The tale of a living microscopic organism brought aboard the International Space Station that rapidly grows into a life-threatening force also isn’t afraid to go pretty dark. It’s refreshing that something that also could be considered a horror film never devolves into a laughing matter.

“Life” begins with a nifty bit of filmmaking from director Daniel Espinosa, a long tracking shot that shows a risky operation that takes us all around this re-created version of the station and introduces us to the various team members. Among them are mission specialist Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds); physician David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal); British scientist Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare); and Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson of “The Girl on the Train”), who’s on loan from the Centers for Disease Control.

Rory is, well, a Ryan Reynolds type — think Deadpool with only a fraction of the profanity. David, on the other hand, is more quiet and contemplative. The ex-military man who served in the Middle East is his worst patient, Miranda scolding him that his muscle atrophy is worsening and that he’s been aboard the station for too long.

“I like it up here,” he tells her. “I can’t stand what we do to each other down there.”

When a probe returns from Mars with soil, the microscopic life form is found, an exciting discovery for the crew and, really, for mankind.

SONY PICTURES Jake Gyllenhaal is the mission doctor who may already have spent too much time in space in “Life.”