Species II (1998)
1/2 out of *****
Cast: Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger, Mykelti Williamson, George Dzundza, James Cromwell, Natasha Henstridge, Justin Lazard, Peter Boyle, Richard Belzer Written by: Chris Brancato Directed by: Peter Medak Running Time: 92 minutes
Well well well, the sequel I never wanted has arrived. Before I review Species II however, let me recap how the first film ended. As you'll no doubt recall, Sil (Natasha Henstridge) turned into a computer graphic, gave birth to a son who also turned into a computer graphic, but were both destroyed by government hitman Michael Madsen. BUT, a piece of one of the alien creatures was eaten by a rat, and now the alien was alive and well inside the little rat critter. Obviously rats breed quickly, and so mankind was surely doomed.
Well forget all that! In true horror movie style, the ending of the previous film just didn't happen. Instead, our story starts with a manned mission to Mars. Astronaut Justin Lazard lands on Mars, collects soil samples, and reboards the ship. Unfortunately for the crew of the ship, those soil samples just happen to contain the same alien DNA that Sil was created from (don't ask why it's on Mars, when in the first film we're told it came from an advanced alien species via outer space radio communications). Soon, two-thirds of the ship's crew is infected with the alien DNA. Upon their return to earth, the alien DNA inside them wants them to breed, which Lazard then tries to do with every woman he meets.
Let's talk about bad writing. For example, the astronauts are greeted in space with a video message from the president of the United States (Richard Belzer, doing his awful Ronald Reagan impression). Later, in the office of a US Senator (James Cromwell) a picture of president Bill Clinton is blatantly visible on the wall, as it would be in any government office. Then, upon returning home the astronauts are put into "quarantine" which for some reason only means sexual quarantine... they can go out and socialize with the world... just no sex. Really? Is that the only NASA protocol after being on Mars? Also, Madsen and Helgenberger were starting to be romantically involved by the end of the first film. Now, they hardly even speak to each other, with no explanation as to what's happened between them. There's plenty more too... but I just don't feel like wasting any more of my life writing about it.
As with almost all bad sci-fi/horror films, the filmmakers try to hide the fact that the script is awful by piling on the blood and gore. Species II is no exception. Lots of stomachs bursting open (Alien anyone?) and mutililation for you fans of that sort of thing, along with blood, blood, and more blood.
Natasha Henstridge has an extended cameo as another hybrid alien named Eve that we've created for whatever reason the writer was able to concoct to get Natasha Henstridge in the film. Oh and yes for you fans of naked Natasha, she gets naked again. Also, James Cromwell and George Dzundza have absolutely no business in this film whatsoever. Both of them overact for no reason at all, and their characters contribute nothing to the story being told. What a waste.
There were only three brief moments in the film that made it worthwhile. The first is a quick moment at the beginning when we see that the space program is now funded by big corporations like Pepsi, which have advertisements on the spacecraft heading to Mars. The other two involve Michael Madsen (who, like in the first film, gives an entertaining performance but yet never seems to take any of the events going on around him seriously). One moment has to do with a confrontation between Madsen and a pimp in a wheelchair. The second involves Madsen in a grocery store, where after colliding with a clerk, he pulls his gun on him and violently asks where the cereal aisle is. I seriously doubt either of those two moments could have been scripted.
At the end of Species II after about the most uninvolving "battle with aliens" scene you'll ever see, we're given not just one, not two, but THREE different possibilites for a third film. Each of them is equally absurd, but how much would you care to bet that if a third film is made (god forbid) that all three will be completely brushed aside? [R]
The Jacksonville Film Journal -- Film Reviews by Chuck Dowling URL: http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ Email: chuckd21@leading.net
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