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    		•

    FILMS

    Species (1995)
  • Starring Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina, Forest Whitaker, Marg Helgenberger, Natasha Henstridge

  • Directed by Roger Donaldson

    • Academy-award winning Ben Kingsley is in this film. He plays a scientist whose subject has escaped. But it doesn't really matter. Michael Madsen is in this film. That's right, Mr. Blond—the psychopath from Reservoir Dogs—plays a government-sanctioned killer. But that doesn't matter either. Forest Whitaker, too, is in this film. He plays an empath. Whitaker is a good actor that, in the past, has entertained me as the one-armed father in Smoke, the urban samurai in Ghost Dog, a giggling private in Good Morning, Vietnam or Jefferson, the huge linebacker in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. This too, however, does not matter. There are a number of other people in Species, all of whom are wonderful actors, but none of that matters.

    Natasha Henstridge is in this film.

    And that is the only thing that matters.

    Ever.

    The pictures seen at right is a short series of images which depict the evolution of her character, Sil. The first photo shows her as we all known and love her. Blond. Beautiful. Almost topless. She was born, grew up, and fully-matured in the space of a few days. That's what happens when you're a human-alien hybrid.

    Sil is the product of human and alien DNA. The human part of her is a supermodel. Le meow. The alien part ... well, not so much. Species doesn't bother to tell us anything more about the aliens than what's absolutely necessary—though eventually, we do find out that they look butt-ugly, and can kill someone with their nipples. (Frankly, that's about all I need to know.)

    Does any of this makes sense? No? Well, that's OK. It doesn't matter.

    Sil has escaped the lab in which she was born, and as she develops at an accelerated rate, her biological clock is ticking faster than any bomb in any James Bond movie. She ends up in Los Angeles and is looking for a mate. Fortunately for Sil, she's super-hot, because she has absolutely no social skills. So, like many predators found in nature that are looking for love in all the wrong places, she has to impress the opposite sex. Fortunately for her, removing her shirt is all it takes. She hunts and preys on men in bars, eliminating the competition (i.e., other women) when they go to take a potty break. It's not much of a cat-fight when Sil completely eviscerates the other woman. Ouch.

    Realizing that she's being hunted by her scientist "father" (Kingsley) and his team of crack brain-commandos (an anthropologist, a microbiologist, a killer, and an empath), Sil disguises herself. Many species in the animal and insect kingdom use various methods with which they may hide themselves. Sil puts on a dress, wears costume jewelry, and dyes her hair brown. This is less conspicuous than wearing just a bra—but considerably less fun for the audience. Until she takes it off, of course.

    Evolution is a bitch. Seriously. Only aliens, nature, or H.R. Giger could completely pervert something so wonderful as Ms. Henstridge. One moment, the audience (by this I mean, "the guys and the lesbians in the audience") is completely enjoying her hot-tub trysts and naked mammary seductions, the next minute, we're face-to-face with a true femme fatale. But she's not so much a femme anymore as she is a big, alien bug. (See image at right.) Anyone familiar with Giger's work will know that her sexual organs and erotic zones are probably deadly. (Hence, the aforementioned nipples.)

    The Sil we knew and loved is no longer alive.

    Or, if she is, then she's shed her supermodel skin, and we're all the worse for it.

    Does she/it live? Does she/it die? I won't tell you. Nope, sorry. I won't.

    If you want to see Natasha Henstridge in various stages of undress, then by gum, this is the film for you! If you're looking for Academy-award acting or insightful, though-provoking dialogue and plot—don't bother with Species. But then, that should be fairly obvious. It's has a few moments of excitement and suspense, but overall it fails on all fronts. It's neither good science fiction nor good horror.

    Within the science fiction community, it is generally understood that "science fiction" is defined as fiction which is extrapolated from scientific theory. Movies like Contact and television shows like Babylon 5 are considered "science fiction." Sure they can't (or probably won't) actually happen, but they have some real science in there. Conversely, "sci-fi" is space-fluff—stories that ignore proven science facts. Star Wars and Star Trek are "sci-fi."

    Also within the SF community you'll find that people argue which is better, "science fiction" or "sci-fi," all the time. The truth is, neither is better than the other. It depends on what you're in the mood for. It's like if you go to the grocery store shopping for oranges, it doesn't matter how good the apples are.

    Having said all of that, Species is good, quality sci-fi. Silly brain-fodder, but completely enjoyable. I loved this movie and would I watch it again.

    The last image in our Evolution of Sil montage can be seen on the right. This is how I'd like to remember Sil—beautiful and in a skin-tight bodysuit, not that Hollywood monstrosity that jumps 50 feet in the air and can crawl on ceilings. I'm pretty sure this image isn't even from Species. It might be from Species II.

    But of course, that doesn't matter.

    I think I'll be renting the sequel very, very soon. Natasha's in that one, too.