Species II (1998) Reviews

• A sequel that lacks new ideas

  unbrokenmetal2009-02-08

  Of course, killing the alien was no reason to stop the producers from making a sequel. The cliffhanger from the end of part one (a rat with alien DNA might spread it like a disease) was completely ignored though. Although we were told in the original movie, the alien DNA came from light years away, it is now found on Mars (just around the corner in astronomical terms), and astronauts take it home to Earth. Since there was a bit of gore and sex in the first movie, there is a lot more gore and sex in the second one, as if that could improve the quality in any way. We get a lot of cliché characters, from the corrupt senator to the uncompromising general, and the survivors of part one are treated carelessly by the screenplay: Helgenberger lends a willing hand to cruel experiments, Natasha Henstridge returns as the alien's latest clone, but during the whole first hour of the movie, she has nothing to do except sit around in a glass cage. Madsen just needs to run around armed and look cool - he understandably gives a lackluster performance. The sequel was definitely not as intelligent as the original and tries to hide the lack of ideas with gallons of blood. I voted 8/5/6/7 for the 4 parts of the series.

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• A couple of hours of entertainment, no more no less

  mike-3811998-10-16

  This was not a great movie. I mean for example, Even NASA (Never A Straight Answer) wouldn't make a six month one way voyage to Mars to spend less than two hours on the planet surface. The premise is hard to buy, but hey, it is science FICTION. The effects are not bad, and the acting is fair. There is a lot of gratuitous sex. Michael Marsden may be the bright spot in this average sci-fi flick. I wouldn't pay to see this in the theatre, but on video.... There are probably worse ways to spend an hour and forty-two minutes.

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• Enjoyable trash.

  gridoon2001-09-29

  The people who are stating that this movie is the worst sequel they've ever seen obviously never saw "Hercules II" or "Jaws 3-D" or "Hellraiser II". Now, I am not about to tell you that this is a great film, but if you set your expectations low, you are likely to have fun. Despite the icky (and variable in quality, though impressive in the last 10 minutes) special effects and the large amounts of blood and t&a, the film never becomes truly disturbing, because you're never meant to take it 100% seriously. Michael Madsen understood that, to be sure, and thanks to his trademarked coolness, he walks away with the picture. As for Natasha Henstridge, she has more or less a supporting part, but one that is rather imaginatively linked to the central story line. Overall, a movie with no artistic pretensions and, undoubtedly, many flaws (someone else already mentioned this; why didn't her head explode when she escaped from the lab?), but watch it in the right frame of mind and it's quite enjoyable. Do you know any other movie that features sex between slimy aliens?!? (**1/2)

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• don't bother

  Bob71999-06-29

  Yup, it's a crapper. Species I was adequate, but this sequel is not. Bad acting, strained and disjointed, and not much for effects, except for the final several minutes where he and she mutate and do their thing. I'll put up with quite a bit in the interest of sci-fi, but this blows. I'm trying to think of something equally as bad, perhaps those Cyborg movies.

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• A Sequel to a Second-Rate Franchise with a Top-Notch Director

  gavin69422016-02-26

  An astronaut gets infected with alien DNA during the first mission on Mars and runs amok on earth. Preston and Laura team up with a peaceful, genetically re-engineered Sil (Natasha Henstridge) to track the monster down. The first film became a cult favorite mostly because of the excessive nudity, near as I can tell. The plot was pretty straightforward and it does not stand out as one of those films that needed multiple sequels and its own franchise. And yet, here we are. Writer Chris Brancato was working with MGM and knew the studio was interested in making a follow-up to Species. He pitched an idea to executive Greg Foster where this time two hybrid alien women would strike. Foster liked it, but once Brancato went to "Species" producer Frank Mancuso Jr., he asked to "approach this from a different angle, so that we don't have a tired retread of the original, as sequels often are." So Brancato took inspiration from "The Manchurian Candidate", where "somebody on a mission comes back, apparently a hero, but actually with some terrible demon inside." We get much of the original cast back, and some really fine additional casting, including James Cromwell and a memorable role by Peter Boyle. We also get director Peter Medak on board, one of the great Masters of Horror (given his background in Hammer and "The Changeling")... and even aliens designed by no less an artistic authority than H. R. Giger. In many ways, this film exceeds the original. Having Medak on board brought a few key changes. When Medak was approached by producer Frank Mancuso, a condition of Medak's agreement was to hire on composer Edward Shearmur ("Die Hard"). Also, Peter Boyle is a friend of Medak's and they have worked together many times since the 1970s, so we have Medak to thank for this key bit of casting. Even production designer Miljen Kreka Kljakovic came through Medak. (Kljakovic is not a household name, but look him up -- from "Delicatessen" on, he has made a long list of great films.) And yet, the critics hated it and even the cast was disappointed. Michael Madsen expressed his opinion saying, "Species II was a crock of (doody). There are a number I'm not very proud of. The movie studios can't mind that much, as they haven't contacted me to tell me off about it. I'm honest - if I've made a bad movie, I want my fans to know what they're letting themselves in for." (Regardless of what Madsen thinks of the film, Medak loved working with him.) I have to disagree with Madsen. The film is actually intelligent and clever in a way. The special effects were ahead of their time, even if they may appear dated today. The head regeneration scene is a bit cheesy, but even that allegedly cost $75,000. So it was not a cheap effect. I suspect when people look back now (2016), they will see this is a better film than given credit for. The Scream Factory disc has an old audio commentary ported over (and it is as good as ever). We also have a new interview with Natasha Henstridge, which gives us a bit of a rundown on her career and how she transitioned from modeling to "Species". Oh, and don't forget new interviews with the effects crew. Whether you think this is a good movie or not, these interviews are valuable and really put 1990s horror and science fiction in context.

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