Subject: Review: Species II (1998)

From: [email-masked] (Alex Fung)
Date: 1 May 1998 04:57:22 GMT

SPECIES II (MGM - 1998)
Starring Michael Madsen, Natasha Henstridge, Marg Helgenberger,
  Mykelti Williamson, George Dzundza, James Cromwell and
  Justin Lazard
Screenplay by Chris Brancato
Produced by Frank Mancuso Jr.
Directed by Peter Medak
Running time: 95 minutes

                   *1/2 (out of four stars)
                     Alternate Rating: D+

Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers.
      Be forewarned. 

    -------------------------------------------------------------

   I was incredulous when I first heard that MGM was planning a sequel
   to their 1995 science-fiction flick SPECIES.  Squandering an
   intriguing premise, the original film turned out to be a dreadful
   mess, widely disliked by both audiences and critics alike -- and
   nonetheless still somehow succeeded in becoming a financial success,
   raking in over $60 million domestic during the competitive summer
   season despite a distinct lack of star power in its cast (Ben
   Kingsley's a splendid actor, but a marquee name he ain't).
   Miraculously dodging the bullet with the first film, I doubted that
   they'd dare tempt fate and go for another round.

   So here comes SPECIES II, with a new creative team (director Peter
   Medak and screenwriter Chris Brancato step in for Roger Donaldson and
   Dennis Feldman, respectively) that fails to improve the series one
   iota -- like its predecessor, SPECIES II fails to capitalize on a
   potentially promising kernel and instead runs the gamut from
   ridiculously silly to unmitigatedly stupid.

   The film follows the exploits of a young man, Patrick Ross (Justin
   Lazard), whose sole focus is on cruising along the streets in order
   to pick up women, loitering in strip clubs, and generally trying to
   bed as many different ladies as he possibly can.  In other words,
   Patrick is like a lot of guys; these activities could describe the
   everyday routines of a huge percentage of men his age, but there's a
   catch -- he's an astronaut who recently returned from a seemingly
   successful mission to Mars, and who's now infected with alien DNA.
   Patrick's overriding compulsion: to mate and sire countless numbers
   of gooey little alien offspring.  And when he becomes aware of Eve
   (Natasha Henstridge), a half-human, half-alien clone of the monster
   from the first film being studied in a government lab, Patrick's
   primary focus turns to her -- "if these two were to mate, the
   resulting pure strain of offspring would be unstoppable" warns Dr.
   Laura Baker (Marg Helgenberger, gamely reprising her role) with
   admirable conviction.

   SPECIES II opens with the Mars mission, and the space scenes are
   remarkably unconvincing and hokey-looking, even splicing back to
   dated, grainy footage of actual spacecraft activities -- they really
   skimped on production values this time around.  However, this all
   looks positively inspired when compared to the first appearance of
   the evil alien goo which ultimately infests Patrick; watching as it
   slinks around the command module of the spaceship, any question as to
   whether or not this is a cheesy B-movie is quickly answered.

   Mr. Brancato's original screenplay is filled with outrageous lines
   which often leaves the audience in stitches.  Like the first film
   (and perhaps in homage to it), there's a real penchant for dialogue
   which underlines the obvious.  Last time around featured the
   hootworthy line uttered by Forest Whitaker's psychic empath character
   upon entering a bloodsoaked room -- "Something bad happened here."
   This time, Laura gets to stand over a fresh, shredded corpse with its
   entails ripped out and mutter "This is awful."  And she's not even
   empathic!

   And when a psychotically horny Patrick accosts a supermarket shopper
   and drags her kicking and screaming behind the building in a
   woefully-paced suspense sequence, Eve, who's telepathically linked to
   her alien/human-hybrid counterpart (whatever), helpfully tells our
   alien-hunting protagonists, "He's going to rape her."

   While SPECIES II is often unintentionally hilarious, at least it
   occasionally demonstrates a sense of humour of its own.  There's an
   amusing, tongue-in-cheek bit of product placement (which doesn't
   really make much sense, but I appreciated the sentiment), as well as
   some supermarket-related hijinx ("He's in Aisle 1!" informs Eve).  If
   the film maintained this sort of light-hearted tone, it would have
   been much more charming and enjoyable to watch, but, to its
   detriment, it instead takes its silly plot far too seriously and
   barrels along to a bloody, effects-ladened anticlimactic conclusion.

   Much of the film fails to make a whole lot of sense, and there are
   such gaping plot holes that it's terribly difficult to contain any
   suspension of disbelief.  The implausibilities are endless: what
   about the toxic bomb in Eve's brain?  Why are the guards armed with
   guns when they already know firearms are ineffectual?  My favourite
   was the slow-motion sequence in the film where Eve, sporting
   superhuman strength, is shown tossing aside guards who are attempting
   to contain her with what look like body blocks.  This is the sort of
   movie which leaves you holding your head in amazed disbelief,
   incredulous that it's being foisted upon the public.

   Returning headlines Michael Madsen (who reprises tough guy Press
   Lennox) and Ms. Helgenberger do what they can with this goofy
   screenplay, but there's realistically only so much one can do with
   this script as a basis.  Mykelti Williamson (portraying astronaut
   Dennis Gamble) churns out an all-too-familiar spin on a generic
   brash-mouthed character, and fine character actors George Dzundza
   (playing Colonel Burgess and looking ridiculous in the process) and
   James Cromwell (Patrick's neglectful father, Senator Ross) are
   utterly wasted in the film.  Mr. Lazard gives his character an
   appropriately shifty-eyed look, while returning vixen Ms. Henstridge
   is actually given the opportunity to act in one scene (and acquits
   herself nicely), but is mostly relegated to reprising her familiar
   role of parading about in skimpy clothing (or none at all).

   Ms. Henstridge recently commented on how some female audiences have
   expressed appreciation for her character in the first entry of the
   SPECIES series, claiming that "she's so empowered."  A lethal
   half-alien in heat who dispatches of her sexual partners in grotesque
   fashion -- now *that's* what I call empowerment.

          - Alex Fung
          email: [email-masked]
          web  : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/

--
Alex Fung ([email-masked]) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
"Sometimes, I have an overwhelming temptation to grab someone by the throat,
 head-butt them, leave them bleeding in the corner, saying 'That is my
 critical response to you.'" - NSFC award-winning director Mike Figgis