Genre: Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller
(1 votes, average: 2.00 out of 5)
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Release:7 July 1995
Species is a good horror movie, but that’s about it. It’s not the type of sci-fi movie that might give Stanley Kubrick any sleepless nights. In fact, it will not give most of the viewers any sleepless night either. Species is meant to unleash gloppy morphing and mutation to gross the audience out.
But Species, which is directed by Roger Donaldson and written by Dennis Feldman, does have the usual “cautionary” warnings. The movie has a great cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina and Forest Whitaker.
The monster designer of this film is H.R. Giger, and he has does similar work than he had done in some of his earlier movies. The horror effects, done by Richard Edlund and Steve Johnson are much faster and sharp. In most of the movie, we are shown just enough disgusting creatures to both gross us and make us watch more. At times, there are some weirdo special effects where audiences are supposed to be looking from the point of view of the morph. These moments are quite confusing.
There is a gimmicky creature called Sil in the movie, which has been engineered in Utah by U.S. scientists. Sil has been created by broadcasting DNA codes to other galaxies and getting a code back from one of the galaxies. The result is an intergalactic DNA cocktail who at first takes form of a blond girl with lethal powers. The mutant runs away from the lab before the scientists could as terminate her. After escaping, Sil morphs itself into a beautiful diva (played by Natasha Henstridge).
Xavier Fitch (played by Ben Kingsley), Press (played by Michael Madsen) who is a hit man, Dan (played by Forest Whitaker) who can read feelings, Laura (played by Marg Helgenberger) who is a molecular biologist for Press and Arden (played by Alfred Molina) who is a shy Harvard anthropology professor all are in pursuit of Sil and want to destroy her.
Most of the chase takes place in L.A. where Sil is searching for a man to mate with. The basic idea that a mutant morph could run around in L.A. totally undetected is quite funny.
The cast also can’t seem to stay within their characters for too long. Kingsley seems to be trying to look like Donald Pleasence, Madsen is boring, Whitaker seems confused about the whole movie and Dan’s vaunted empathy looks totally juvenile.
Species also goes haywire when it tries to make a radical feminist point. This especially looks fake as filmmakers seem to have specialized in showing gratuitous nudity. But it’s fun to see so much of in-your-face feminism
The filmmakers have tried everything they knew to tantalize us. The thoughts like which half –the human or intergalactic- of Sil has made it a predator are quite stupid and farfetched. In short, this movie is amusing in parts where it doesn’t intend to be.
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