Sadly Over-hyped

Fantastic!

Disturbing yet enthralling

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

MGM's Species franchise, like Wishmaster and The Crow, is a perfect example of the law of diminishing returns. Roger Donaldson's 1995 hit Species was a stylish, self-consciously trashy homage to B-movies. One that has had its scenario rehashed three times now. One would expect a low-budget sequel to revel in sleaze and gore, but since 2004, when the concept was resurrected, 6 years after the cinema release of the disastrous Species 2 (1998), for the direct-to-DVD market, there has been a surprising resistance to the gratuitous ingredients of sex and violence. Species 3 paid little more than lip service to the desires of the target audience and the same is true here. Deviating from the plot line established by the first three films, which featured Natasha Henstridge, The Awakening is a standalone feature that references and reimagines the ideas of the first film. It posits an alternative scenario; what if the scientist played by Sir Ben Kingsley in the original had not kept the young girl like a rat in cage? What if he'd raised her like his own? This could have made for an intriguing exploration of nature versus nurture. Had Henstridge's Sil been allowed to develop in a more normal way could her dangerous, alien side have been suppressed? Alas there is little such depth to this cheap cash-in.Kingsley's role is reinterpreted by fellow British thespian Ben Cross, while Swede Helena Mattsson (who looks a bit like Nicole Kidman) takes over where Henstridge and Sunny Mabrey left off. With only four key cast members and no sign of even Michael Madsen, The Awakening is the weakest of exploitation films. Only the audience is being exploited. A studio like MGM isn't short of cash, so the explanation for the cheapness of this film is clear; they knew they can get away with it and turn an easy profit. Studios like The Asylum have their desperately limited resources to explain their crass and dissatisfactory efforts, but there's simply no excuse for a Species film to be as unspectacular as this.Feeling more like a cross between a vampire movie and a retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein than a sexy sci-fi movie, Nick Lyon's film merely coasts on tenuous links to its predecessors. There are the HR Giger-inspired creature costumes and the promise of flesh is vaguely satisfied but there's not much effort or imagination. Were it not for a few gratuitous moments and aggressive curse words this could have been made for mainstream TV. Lyons does well to pay homage to the original film and its subtext but seems to have forgotten how tongue-in-cheek it all was. Species 4 should have taken things to a cartoonish extreme. Instead what could have been knowingly amusing is just po-faced and embarrassing. From Dominic Keating's terrible Aussie accent to the fact that the alien hybrids use their tongues as weapons, at one point they shoot icicle-like spears from their mouths in bullet-time, the experience is one of contradiction.The original Species really went for it. Utterly shameless titillation. The sequel went further, but in a misjudged, sleazy and misogynistic direction. Perhaps this is why the following two instalments have been so tame. The Awakening, as evidenced by its 15 rating, delivers the bare minimum that one could expect from a film with the Species title. Cautiously exploitative. Like its heroine, The Awakening is in denial, trying its best not to give in to its primitive instincts. There's the potential for a wild ride in its concept and its plot, but Lyons takes it so seriously that the only laughs come unintentionally. This is a film in which a back alley scientist creates sex-crazed human/alien hybrids that run around Mexico! One of them dresses as demonic nun and leaps between rooftops, lassoing potential prey with its tongue; this is potentially hilarious stuff! But it's stripped bare, like its heroine in the final act, devoid of emotion. This is a film of wasted opportunities.

One day, college professor(yeah, right... she's about as convincing as a dummy) Miranda falls ill. She is then told by her "uncle"(who now admits that he is not related to her) that she was a science experiment of his, of combining alien and human DNA. Yes, like in the original. Only no cocooning, seemingly no sped-up growth, and she had no idea until she suddenly transformed... apparently because she was dying. Which makes it kinda strange that she's still powerful. This takes several good ideas, including that of someone's memories being a lie repeated until they accepted it and themes straight out of the story of Dr. Frankenstein and utterly *wastes* all this potential. The acting and production values are the level of a soap opera, as another reviewer notes. Locations are dull, lighting is poor, and the camera is constantly trying to fake tension(of which there is none to be found in the entirety of this) by shaking/excessively moving and using close-ups(something that only renders these horrendous performances even less tolerable). The dialog is just plain bad, and flat like the great plains. We get additional instances of "learning without opening the book", something that was idiotic when it was introduced in the third(that this does not, by the way, follow up on the sequel-baiting ending of). There are countless questions raised by the cheese(Swiss, by the way) that is the plot, and none of them are attempted answered. As if all of that wasn't enough, the creatures in this pose. They attack with no reason, and usually with their tongue(what a lack of creativity). One of them initially appears dressed as a nun. I'll let that sink in. We see them too much, for long periods of time, and the guy who's making them in this isn't worried about them in the least(so why should we be?). Oh, and he earns a living cloning dead pets(and apparently people, as well? And combining them with the extra-terrestrial genetic material, in spite of the fact that that's probably tougher to do than simply making a direct copy), so surely no one will be suspicious of him when bodies are found murdered under strange circumstances(and this seems to be a common occurrence, based on what takes place during the events of this). The characters are bland, stereotypical, and/or completely uninteresting. I couldn't care about anyone in this, at all. Hollander is inconsistently written. FX are cheap. There is slow-motion during a fight sequence. In a monster flick! There's hardly any nudity(granted, the chicks are hot... still, when they strip, it tends to be covered or they shoot around it), sex, bloody, gory violence or strong language. This is the stupidest and worst of the Species series, and it is also the only that doesn't lend itself easily to being followed by another entry, so perhaps it can end here. Let's be honest, only the '95 one was worth the time. I recommend this solely to those who won't heed the warning. 2/10

The Cat people , Jaws and Alien established and reinforced what I consider to be the golden rule when it comes to monstrous creatures in film.The monster should never be on screen too long.That is: If the audience is needed to feel threatened by the creature , we should rarely see it.Failing that the creature should be so terrifying that when we do see it we should be transfixed to the screen or covering our eyes in fear (the original Japanese 'Ring' is a great example)The success of any monster simply lies on it appearing a credible threat . If it is on screen too long and it is a person-in-a-suit. The last thing you want the audience to do is to start thinking , wow , what a great costume. The same is true for CGI , if the audience starts thinking about the CGI rather than what the CGI is depicting then it has failed its purpose.Here the Hybrids are on screen too long during the end fight sequence. The lights are too bright and the camera lingers too much , we get a good look at both the Hybrids and while the make up is genuinely impressive this is where it all breaks down for the above reasons.This fight also features slow motion flying tongues. We see the tongue spikes in flight and seeing them actually lessens the scenes tension because they look so unconvincing. During the fight Azura takes her time removing the three one by on and like anyone wanting a fight to the death Miranda goes ahead and waits patiently for her to do this.The built tension just dies. The fight is full of jumps and dives but the choreography is not tailored to the fighting style of the Hybrids, which, given their established propensity for speed and incredible strength , should have been fast and brutal. We hear a lot of hissing and are treated to awkward posing and pointless arm waving but little actual fighting.A short detour into an incomplete look at the characters.Azura. She shows up as a Goth Nun near the start of the film once the leads have reached Mexico ,where we are treated to some awful CGI roof leaping.Later we see here in bed with Fisk and the reason for her attacking Hollander is hand waved away. "Oh , you tried to kill a man I greet as an old friend, never mind" not even a slap on the wrist.When she attacks Hollander in the church she stands rabbit-in-the-headlights and is crushed by a massive cross. This is a creature that can jump , from standing , twenty to thirty feet. I sigh with disappointment every time a convenient piece of scenery is used to kill a previously unstoppable character in any filmHer character does very little talking and while we easily ascertain that she harbours a deep loathing of the Leads there is little justification show for this.Fisk: Fisk is an amoral profiteer, Dr Frankenstein shorn of humanity. He feeds off the greed and suffering of others and treating his creations like playthings Roger Cudney does a good job of playing the hedonistic cliché but he is a two dimensional character and really acts as more of a plot device than as a character. Hollander: His motivations are clear up to when he sets a cab driver alight and kidnaps a violent female con artist to kill in order that he can prolong Miranda's life.The film quite oddly doesn't address that Hollander has descended from his stated moral position to where he is willing to kill to achieve his ends.He's been lying to Miranda her whole life and when he finally starts to tell her her origins Hollander simply doesn't convey the news in the way it should. Telling someone that they are a science project that you became attached should be painful for the intelligent scientist but instead it is eerily dispassionate. I will say that the dialogue is quite weak so Ben Cross is absolved – You cant act so well that the script improves.Hollander is written inconsistently, almost like the script called for two characters and the budget consolidated them into one. This fouled my enjoyment of the film most.Miranda: For a film that should be driven by the actions of the female lead Miranda plays a small role in the film compared to Hollander , only over half way in does the film seem to 'start' when she kicks into stalk-mate-kill mode. Her massive personality shift is unexplained , we are left to assume that its genetic. Her come-ons to the hotelier lack any eroticism. She should be pouting and seductive up to the moment of killing or mating. Instead the scene unfolds awkwardly. I have very little to say about Miranda simply because she's not a very well written or well developed character , She has the worst dialogue in the film and I just couldn't muster and kind of sympathy for her at all. I enjoyed the first Species film. it was like watching an animal hunt and watching people rush to prevent a pandemic. The first film was imbued with sexual tension and an air of menace.Species IV is an overly long , badly paced Species film gutted of what made the first film enjoyable.(shortened from over 2500 words)

They just totally ruined that amazing SIL design by H.R.Giger...I really expected that "Species" series could be at least as good as Alien series but the ruined it. After being disappointed by Species 3, I felt absolutely wreck with Species IV...I mean I am a big fan of 1st species, and the alien-creature in species IV was like a puppet rather than being realistic. SIL design and special effects were good for 1995 situations...But now for 2007 movie (I think its all about the budget I don't know) I didn't expect that...It was utterly, awful..I wish I could give "0"... If they gonna make any other 5th one and if its going to be like this one, please No..Its will be a waste of time...Remember the 1st one please...