Species II (1998)

“The alien DNA infected us, it’s about time we infected them.” – Dr. Laura Baker

Number of Times Seen – 1 (1 Mar 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A team of astronauts visiting Mars accidentally pick up an alien life-form which tries to reproduce itself on Earth which causes the government to try and find a way to stop it.

My Take on it – This is a film that I’ve been avoiding seeing ever since it came out 21 years ago especially since I’ve never really been a fan of this kind of genre.

The fact that The Vern of That Moment In chose it for next month’s Franchise MOTM at the LAMB made me take the plunge especially since this is the second of the 4 films in the series that I have now committed myself to watching within the next week or so.

This is actually an adequate sequel to the original Species (1995) film.

They have some cool special effects and some very fast and fun action scenes that work within the context of the film.

Unfortunately tho, it isn’t as interesting or as thrilling as the original film was and that’s a real pity.

The added use of political mechanisms in this film actually helps it a lot and despite sometimes going to the extreme when not necessary, they manage to do it well.

As a sequel should, this film brings back some of the characters from the original film (those probably more desperate for a pay check, because they probably didn’t really read the somewhat silly script).

Michel Madsen, Natasha Henstridge and Marg Helgenberger all reprise their roles from the original and despite acting much calmer and quieter than in the previous installment, it mostly works.

The addition of Mykelti Williams and James Cromwell adds a bit to the way this film can be perceived due to their acting presence.

The story gets a bit out of control and unfortunately feels very repetitious (both of events from the previous film and from earlier in this one) and that hurts the feeling of something more innovative and unique.

They aren’t able to add much to the original premise that would make this film be worth watching since something feels missing the entire time that would probably have made it much more enjoyable.

Bottom Line – Adequate sequel that has some cool special effects and action scenes, but overall isn’t thrilling enough like the original was. The political mechanisms that they add to this film work well even if they get a bit extreme. Great to see Madsen, Henstridge and Helgenberger back here and the addition of Williams and Cromwell adds to the way this film is perceived. The story tho, gets a bit out of control and seems to be much too repetitive both of the original film and of itself. This film unfortunately doesn’t add enough to the original premise and something is missing that would make it much more enjoyable.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – EVE stands for Extraterrestrial Vulnerability Experiment. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)