Species (1995) Dir: Roger Donaldson
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As I work my way through all the classics and the masterpieces, every now and then, I like to take a stab at something a little different, especially if it falls within the horror genre. This Roger Donaldson directed sci-fi horror was just that. I knew it wasn't going to be earth-shatteringly good, but I wanted to check it out regardless.
Body horror done correctly can be very effective and creepy, but, when done wrong, or not as well as it could've been, it's always a disappointment. This one, unfortunately, fails to capitalise on its villain's potential, in this regard. The CGI was dated, and borderline laughable at times, which took away from some of the film's biggest scenes. The practical effects were better, but so underutilised, which was such a shame.
The story got a bit boring, after a while, if I'm honest. There were interesting aspects to it, but they never came together, and nothing about the film was consistently good. It was just a rather dull chase, with lots of unnecessary female nudity thrown in, that went almost nowhere. To make things worse, none of the characters ever really developed beyond a surface level.
Natasha Henstridge played the film's antagonist, and, unfortunately was totally wooden. I understand her character was supposed to be acting differently, but she definitely could've done more. I felt bad for her, honestly. Her character was so shallow and derivative, and kind of felt like an excuse to get an actress to be topless, or close to it, as much as possible.
The supporting cast had a lot of recognisable faces in it, including the ever-familiar face of Ben Kingsley, who provided another of his academic-minded characters with great ambitions and poor execution. His acting was fine enough, in fairness, though nowhere near his best.
Michael Madsen and Alfred Molina gave the best performances of a fairly meager bunch. I enjoyed their antics though, and those flashes of charisma and comedic wit that both managed to show made the film a lot more watchable.
Forest Whitaker played "mr state the obvious", whose special ability was seemingly to tell the audience everything that they likely could've guessed on their own with any sort of decent writing. His acting wasn't bad, mind you, his character was just irritatingly shallow in purpose.
I'll also mention Marg Helgenberger, who was very underutilised, beyond her romantic arc, and a young Michelle Williams, who was actually quite good for the time she was on-screen. I'd have liked it if both actresses were used more in the film, but what each one did show was pretty good.
Overall, this film was pretty poor, I don't think there's any hiding it. I can't say what annoyed me more, the lack of story or the apparent horniness that drove it. I'm not sure what I expected, in fairness - the premise kind of set itself up for it. I guess I kind of hoped for a little more substance, but alas, it's real intent was far too obvious, and far too lacklustre.
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