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Helena Mattsson in "Species: The Awakening"
courtesy of the Sci Fi Channel
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"Species: The Awakening" (Sci Fi Channel)
When I first received the advance screener of the Sci Fi Channel's latest original movie "Species: The Awakening" I thought it would probably be a cheap rip-off of the Natasha Henstridge sci fi adventure that was a pretty good original movie and a not so good sequel. So imagine my surprise when this latest version of the story turned out to be pretty good entertainment.
It helps that the movie has Ben Cross as the lead actor. He manages to give some weight to his role of an inventor/doctor turned professor named Hollander. When we first see him he is in professor mode. He also has a "niece" named Miranda who is also a professor. She has beauty and brains and has led a pretty charmed life so far.
One day everything changes. Miranda goes on a killing spree and her "uncle" has to tell her that he and another doctor/inventor friend created her. Plus they mixed some alien DNA in with the process so she has some other world tendencies. The two of them now race to Mexico to try to find Hollander's former inventor partner to see if he can help save Miranda before she turns completely alien.
Besides the gravitas of Cross, the movie also benefits from some inventive special effects. When Miranda and others take on alien shapes it is stunning to see. It is also fun to watch. Scary but fun at the same time.
This movie is on a higher level than your average scare flick. It has chills and comedy involved in a subtle way. At the end when you get to see two female aliens fight it out to the death the movie really picks up.
Don't go into this film with your expectations unreasonably high based on this review, but keep in mind it is a pretty good sequel of sorts to the original and you will have some fun. I did.
"Species: The Awakening" premieres on the Sci Fi Channel, September 29 at 9PM.
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©2007 Jackie K. Cooper |
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