Species: Review By The CryptKeeper

I actually thought this was going to be a really bad porno film. But I was surprised to actually find a decent plot, with, yes, sex scenes, but thankfully not porno sex scenes. It was a big surprise.

Now the story... I think it deserves a solid 4. Some things weren't 100% original, but for the most part it was really kinda cool. The film starts off with a little girl (and believe it or not, that little girl is a very young Michelle Williams) trapped in this... pod type thing in a science lab. They are about to kill her... but then she breaks out, and now the scientists are trying to retrieve her back. Along the way, we find out that she is this alien type thing that ages quicker than humans. In the matter of hours, she isn't a little girl anymore. Now she needs to do 2 things- try to keep away from the scientists, and... reproduce. Now with this sort of plot, you'd expect some sex, which there is, but the film really doesn't focus on that part, more on her trying to figure out how the world works, and hiding from the scientists.

The acting is decent, however, not that hard to act. Natasha Henstrige plays the Species chick. This is her first role... and it shows. I mean, she doesn't do terrible, but some of her facial expressions looked a bit off, and awkward at times. Other than that, she did well, and certainly looks the part of a sexy, seductive alien. This may come as a surprise, but the film actually has quite the cast. Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, and Forrest Whitaker all play scientists that are out for the Species. They do well, not too cheesy. But like I said before, their parts aren't hard to act out.

The director is Roger Donaldson. He did some other stuff, but the only one i knew was Dante's Peak. I liked most of his directing, but I didn't like how he shot the first 15-20 minutes. There's like, no music or dialogue at all. And when a movie is like that, I lose interest. Now, I didn't lose as much as interest as most movies that do that, but every once in a while, my mind wondered. But once they started talking more, then it became quite entertaining. I also like how he didn't make the sex scenes too graphic, and explicit.

As for the visuals, they may seem kind of cheesy now, but I'm sure back then, in 1995, this film was pretty advanced. When the Species shows her true self it, it is quite weird looking, but it's actually not that bad. I'm sure if this film was made nowadays, it'd be even more advanced. Plus the Species chick had a nice body when not in true, alien form...

Overall, a decent film. Maybe not amazing, but I did buy it, and will watch it again soon!