bowmanblue
'Species' was always a classic B-movie and it certainly made enough money to guarantee a sequel. The good news is that (most of) the principal cast returned (quite a rarity in sequels these days) and it sort of follows the Terminator/T2 rule where the original bad guy is now the good guy, helping to defeat something even worse.Despite the original alien, played by Natasha Henstridge with her trademark lack of clothes, being killed off in the original, she's been cloned back now to help the human race hunt down a second alien (this time male). Now
that doesn't sound like a bad plot for a B-movie, however, my main problem was that Natasha Henstridge is hardly in it! She only really comes into the film in the final act and, by then, it's a little too late to make any real difference.The story focuses on all the wrong characters. Even though you also have Michael Madsen and Marg Helgenberger reprise their respective characters, the film spends too much time on those related to sub-plots and a new sidekick who is little more than a wise-cracking helper who's constant slang and (alleged) witticisms about his lack of sex soon become annoying.But, when the story gets it right, it still retains enough of the fun and bloodthirsty chaos of the original to make it just about watchable. If you've never experienced the 'Species' franchise, start with the original. If you like that, you may want to check out this one (It's pretty widely regarded that part III is a waste of time!).http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/
GL84
After returning from a mission to Mars, a team of experts' tracks down the infected astronaut carrying a parasitic alien before he can meet up and mate with a similar human/alien hybrid.A very rewarding sequel to a fine original, this one turned out to be very enjoyable. By adapting a more straight-up storyline instead of dealing with all the science and facts, there's considerably more action in this one in terms of splattered victims which seems to be the main focus of the first half. With an increase of splatter, there's some great kills and creature make-up used during those scenes, and the tentacled beings covered in slime generate a lot of fun, especially bursting forth from people's stomachs or chasing around the ground which are good times. Several other scenes with the alien children shooting their cocoons together and the effects work there allows even more goopy, gory fun in conjunction with a continuation of fun kills, miraculous healing abilities from both creatures and copious nudity. There are some flaws here, though, namely the decision to allow the captured male into the quarantined zone with the girl when there's plenty of knowledge to indicate his goal is to mate with her, as well as the film's rather tacky CGI during the finale when the practical effects were working so well. It loses some steam in the middle where they keep coming up short in the quest to stop him rampaging and raping woman as they're always on the other end of it, but otherwise there's still a lot to like here.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, several Sex Scenes and attempted rapes
Peter Grunbaum
I just saw this, and I was amazed at how poor it is. Some scenes were OK, but overall it just did not hang together. When the fantasy genre has descended into this it is not a good sign. Basically these movies are just an excuse for showing sex and violence and other distressing scenes on-screen. For example, the attempted rape by Patrick was distressing to watch. There is no story anyway so why not just focus on the monsters and the effects but naturally in these movies there is a lot of stupid dialogue and superfluous scenes. If you are a fan of the series this entry is probably OK, but in the overall fantasy genre it does not rate very highly.
oops i forgot
While nowhere as overly lovable as the original, and far less interesting than the succeeder, Species 2 is commonly regarded as the downfall of the series.I don't blame those who say that. It may just be me but the CGI looks worse. And the gore is piled on by the bucket load. Since the gore was one of the reasons the original got a cult following. Guess they thought "Hey, people like the blood. Lets add more this time..." The gore appears to be a desperation move in this flick. And speaking of desperation, we move to the...other....reason the original got a cult following. The soft core porn and, almost random, nudity. Taking that little ingrediant, and like gore, doubling it. Not to be funny, but watching the original on your own...when the nudity arrived...its hard to keep your friend down...this time it just over doses it a tad, almost making it feel awkward considering this is not meant to be a porn video. I'm giving it 7, which kind of sounds contradictory considering all I talked about was the bad things. But it is...at times...decent. And if you want "fan service" then this film is the mecca of them all. Just consider this is a little less action chick, a little more skin flick.
AD
