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Species II
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The first Species (1995) had certain pretensions
to quality. After all, there was Ben Kingsley strutting around as a Dr
Frankenstein type, and a small band of anthropological, psychological and
scientific experts ever ready to expound on current theories of Otherness in
relation to alien life forms.
At the same
time, Species had a high schlock
quotient: in particular, endless shots of Sil (Natasha Henstridge), a gorgeous,
naked killer – and a lethal fusion of human and alien DNA – cruising the glitzy bars of
Species II drops the social satire, the
quasi-philosophical disquisitions and the Blade Runner (1982) veneer of noir visuals. This time
around, that alien DNA is back on earth and multiplying fast, due to a group of
astronauts unwittingly bringing back a spawn from Mars – and the only pressing
task is to exterminate it, not analyse it.
As in the
sublime Alien Resurrection (1997),
cloning comes in handy for bringing back previously dead and buried characters.
So here's Sil again, prowling restlessly in a high security cage under the
watchful eye of Dr Laura (Marg Helgenberger), and picking up helpful hints in
earthly behaviour from The Dukes of
Hazzard on TV.
The principal novelty of this highly enjoyable sequel is that the sex-crazy alien hybrid is no longer solely female. To match Henstridge's unearthly good looks there is Justin Lazard as Patrick, a square-jawed, all-American hero straight out of a comic book. His contaminated seed causes poor, unfortunate, earthling women to instantly procreate fully grown children – an icky spectacle, to say the least.
As directed
by Peter Medak (The Krays, 1990) and
written by Chris Brancato (Hoodlum, 1997), Species II expertly splices
together high points from many SF and horror classics of the last twenty years.
There is the mystery of who exactly has been contaminated, as in The Thing (1982); humans covered by
gooey tendrils in squishy life-pods, as in Body Snatchers (1994); and an enthusiastic display
of mutated creatures somewhere between alien, human and insect, imaginatively
designed – as in Alien (1979) – by
H.R. Giger.
Local
connoisseurs of the genre may especially wonder whether the filmmakers have
also closely studied the Australian movie Body Melt (1994). Both films, at any rate, share – beyond their gleefully gruesome special effects – a similar sense of pop
culture humour. In Species II, this
is particularly embodied by Gamble (Mykelti Williamson) – an edgy Afro-American
who compensates for his own sense of male inadequacy by grabbing a machete
before doing battle with aliens and proclaiming: "I'm going back to
© Adrian Martin July 1998 |
