Subject: Review: Species II (1998)

From: "Jerry Bosch" <[email-masked]>
Date: 18 Apr 1998 16:08:47 GMT

SPECIES 2

It was bound to happen.

My son and I share a perverse predilection for bad movies. We are amused and
entertained by the cheap thrills, the corny dialog, the ludicrous premises
and the bad acting. Since other family members aspire to higher forms of
entertainment, we usually wind up indulging our proclivity together. I can’t
remember when we disagreed on the relative merits of a clunker until SPECIES
2 came along. He was not amused. I on the other hand was able to easily
suspend the applicable requirements in the usual manner and declare myself
suitably entertained. Perhaps the evident skills that were brought to the
process of producing a bad product was what prevented him from extracting
fun out of mediocrity. I on the other hand appreciated the fact that the
producers and director knew exactly what they were doing: insulting my
intelligence, and brought adequate movie-making skills to the project  A
movie does not have to be good to be well made, at least in terms of the
craft.

The movie could have been better if it were not so brusque. This movie slaps
you with conception, pregnancy, delivery and young childhood in consecutive
frames, without pausing for infancy. The producers of NESCAFE have nothing
on this alien race in which a woman’s womb balloons immediately after the
male orgasm, and a few seconds later a young child tears its way out of her
abdomen in a sloppy and gory version of an inside-out Cesarean.

An autopsy scene in which a buzz saw cuts through the cranium was not the
kind of indulgence that I condone, to say nothing of the fact that it was
scientifically incorrect. In a real autopsy the saw does not cut through the
scalp; it is used only after the skull has been exposed.

The opening sequences of exploration of Mars were very good. The writers
showed excellent skills for ceremonial speech writing but the spontaneous
dialogue would qualify for a subtitle: “As Bad As It Gets”. As the movie
progressed I vowed to remember the lines that made me cringe but only one
stuck. Eve (Natasha Henstridge) was cloned from Sil, the original alien
sexual predator, but her mating instinct was artificially attenuated, which
was all that was needed to turn her into a noble and cooperative prisoner.
In a wistful display of resignation and understanding she tells her friend
and jailer (Marg Helgenberger): “I think of all the places that I will never
see and all the people that I will never meet.” It’s enough to melt the most
callous heart. At another point she protests: “I’m human too, you know.” She
is only half right.

Peter Medak, the director, knows his business. Justin Lazard as the doomed
astronaut does nothing to enhance his Hollywood credentials. James Cromwell,
his father, is perfect in a short role. Marg Heldenberger, the DNA scientist
is pleasant and beautiful. Natasha is an exquisite ornament. George Dzunza
knew and delivered what was expected of him as the dumb general that messes
things up. Michael Madsen was there. Black buddies do not usually survive in
this type of movie but Mykelti Williamson  manages to stay around for the
final credits, which is more that we can say for Lazard..

I gave it 2 stars out of 5; my son gave it ½.

Jerry