Species (1995) (2nd viewing) d. Donaldson, Roger (USA) 108min
The recollections from my initial theatrical encounter held true: Natasha Henstridge looks great in the buff and Steve Johnson’s makeup f/x are enjoyable indeed, but they hardly compensate for the sheer boneheadedness of writer Dennis Feldman’s facepalm plotting and lack of characterization. (H.R. Giger’s creature design, on the other hand, ends up looking disappointingly like an early draft of his Alien work.) Despite a capable cast (Michael Madsen, Ben Kingsley, Marg Helgenbarger, Alfred Molina, Forrest Whitaker) assembled to track down Henstridge’s randy alien/human hybrid “Sil” loose in L.A., each is given a limited number of notes to play – they are “types” rather than people. Whitaker’s unbearably melodramatic “empath” comes off worst, a combo psychic/expository device there to tell the group, “She went that way,” or “She’s angry,” or “She’s looking to breed.” (It works great as a drinking game, less so as a narrative device.) The early scenes, featuring Michelle Williams as the young Sil, succeed best, before the unrepentantly stupid dialogue and poorly thought out plotlines require so much suspension of disbelief you could sprain something.
