Life Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs

5. Daniel Espinosa's Strong Direction

Daniel Espinosa is an on-the-rise filmmaker who first made a name for himself with the hit 2010 Swedish thriller Easy Money, and became a Hollywood mainstay with 2012's Ryan Reynolds-starring Safe House.

Though 2015's Child 44 was a critical and box office dud, Espionosa is back on firm ground here, delivering easily the best and most imaginative directorial effort of his career to date.

The film opens with a silky smooth single take sequence as Reynolds' character captures the space probe containing Calvin, and while it was quite probably achieved with clever digital stitching, the shot looks absolutely gorgeous and does a fantastic job of introducing viewers to the entire crew.

Throughout, Espinosa keeps things tight, emphasising the claustrophobic setting and making the most of those aforementioned death scenes.

As such it's not too surprising to hear that he's on the shortlist to direct Suicide Squad 2, and either way, is sure to be heavily in demand as a reliable blockbuster filmmaker (though you might be surprised to learn Life cost only $58 million, despite the incredible visuals and cast).