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.
183 Reviews
Enjoyable sci fi film
elliotjeory22 October 2019
If you liked the first species film you will like this, it's not as good but it's more or less the same just a bit cheaper. The sci-fi story is cool and I like the series and will watch the third one to see if it's any good.
not as good as the first one
roddick-126 May 2005
This movie definitely wasn't as good as the first one.
I thought the original was actually quite entertaining and had quite a good story.
This didn't have an as good story and some parts seemed silly.
I didn't like the fact that it was the male astronaut doing all the killing instead of Sil.
And that is was in Washington D.C instead of L.A.
But the action scenes still entertained me and the monsters were pretty cool.
I don't know how they got Michael Madsen and the now famous Marg Helenberger to do this sequel ( and I don't know they got Madsen to do the first one either) but there acting was good.
Overall I think was a reasonably entertaining movie but don't out of your way to see it.
I thought the original was actually quite entertaining and had quite a good story.
This didn't have an as good story and some parts seemed silly.
I didn't like the fact that it was the male astronaut doing all the killing instead of Sil.
And that is was in Washington D.C instead of L.A.
But the action scenes still entertained me and the monsters were pretty cool.
I don't know how they got Michael Madsen and the now famous Marg Helenberger to do this sequel ( and I don't know they got Madsen to do the first one either) but there acting was good.
Overall I think was a reasonably entertaining movie but don't out of your way to see it.
A couple of hours of entertainment, no more no less
mike-38116 October 1998
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.
Don't see this if you liked the original one!
Sunny-2226 November 1999
Tell me why does a filmcompany gives a green light to a production like this? It's realy a stupid story: 3 men comes after 11 months from mars, bring back an alien etc. etc. Much blood and awful FX, never heard of less is more? Don't see this if you liked the original one! 0 out of 10!!!
The sequel!
LittleJ26 June 1999
In scream 2 the "horror movie geek" has a formula which this movie follows to the point. More blood, more gore, higher screams, more sex and more killers. I have seen only but a few good sequels in my time, unfortunately this is not one of them.
A BAD MOVIE!
(But if you like Natasha H. there are more nude scenes with here in this movie, but I hope that is not enough to make this a good film.)
A BAD MOVIE!
(But if you like Natasha H. there are more nude scenes with here in this movie, but I hope that is not enough to make this a good film.)
Ultimate Bullsh... !
HAWK-1730 September 1998
A bother can't get no booty
Ysman1 June 1999
With gripping dialogue like the above statement, Species 2 ranks among the world's greatest sequels. I put it right above The Karate Kid 3 and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer but right below Caddyshack 2 and Superman 4 as one of the greatest movies of our time. I just hope the Species creators take a cue from the Police Academy bunch and keep making these great movies. I am certain that Species 3 will replace Star Wars Episode 1 as the most anticipated movie of all time.
Can I Say Terrible Dissapointment
hal1710 June 1999
Now the first one wasn't exceptional, but it moved along well and had good actors and a decent director. This film on the other hand is a horror.Starting off with a lot of potential at the very beginning, it succcombs to tired, tedious and not to assuringly believable ways of developing the characters progressively with the the moving action and story. Nuff said the director is another fine lad,but this one's a turkey! I've only seen this film once in the box-office and i'm hoping a 2nd viewing will make me not like it any less?? too many words for such poop..
Enjoyable trash.
gridoon29 September 2001
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)
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)
groan
petshop2 March 1999
What was I expecting? An unadulterated alien sex fest with fantastic special effects. What I got? PG sex scenes, '80s gore, and crappy effects. It's sad when the special effects in a movie's poster work better than those in the film. The sexy stars have a fairly good amount of naked time, but mostly in scenes where gross fake-looking things start popping out of their bodies. The model space ship at the beginning is a joke. The fuzzy computer-generated graphics are obvious. The story actually would've worked if even just one of the characters in it was believable.
Adequate sequel with some good points
kannibalcorpsegrinder1 September 2011
After returning from a mission to Mars, a team of experts' tracks down the infected astronaut carrying a parasitic alien before he can meet up and mate with a similar human/alien hybrid.
A very rewarding sequel to a fine original, this one turned out to be very enjoyable. By adapting a more straight-up storyline instead of dealing with all the science and facts, there's considerably more action in this one in terms of splattered victims which seems to be the main focus of the first half. With an increase of splatter, there's some great kills and creature make-up used during those scenes, and the tentacled beings covered in slime generate a lot of fun, especially bursting forth from people's stomachs or chasing around the ground which are good times. Several other scenes with the alien children shooting their cocoons together and the effects work there allows even more goopy, gory fun in conjunction with a continuation of fun kills, miraculous healing abilities from both creatures and copious nudity. There are some flaws here, though, namely the decision to allow the captured male into the quarantined zone with the girl when there's plenty of knowledge to indicate his goal is to mate with her, as well as the film's rather tacky CGI during the finale when the practical effects were working so well. It loses some steam in the middle where they keep coming up short in the quest to stop him rampaging and raping woman as they're always on the other end of it, but otherwise there's still a lot to like here.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, several Sex Scenes and attempted rapes
A very rewarding sequel to a fine original, this one turned out to be very enjoyable. By adapting a more straight-up storyline instead of dealing with all the science and facts, there's considerably more action in this one in terms of splattered victims which seems to be the main focus of the first half. With an increase of splatter, there's some great kills and creature make-up used during those scenes, and the tentacled beings covered in slime generate a lot of fun, especially bursting forth from people's stomachs or chasing around the ground which are good times. Several other scenes with the alien children shooting their cocoons together and the effects work there allows even more goopy, gory fun in conjunction with a continuation of fun kills, miraculous healing abilities from both creatures and copious nudity. There are some flaws here, though, namely the decision to allow the captured male into the quarantined zone with the girl when there's plenty of knowledge to indicate his goal is to mate with her, as well as the film's rather tacky CGI during the finale when the practical effects were working so well. It loses some steam in the middle where they keep coming up short in the quest to stop him rampaging and raping woman as they're always on the other end of it, but otherwise there's still a lot to like here.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, several Sex Scenes and attempted rapes
C'monit's fun, gory and it's got loads of boobs in it... what's not to like?
BA_Harrison23 August 2007
A team of astronauts, returning from a trip to Mars, are attacked by an organism that oozes out of a soil sample taken from the red planet's surface; after blacking out for seven minutes, they awaken, unable to recall what has happened to them.
Once back on Earth, the astronauts are subjected to several tests; whilst checking the blood sample from Captain Ross (Justin Lazard), the team leader, a scientist is mysteriously killed. When the dead man's body is examined, DNA is found which is similar to that of Eve, a human/alien hybrid (Natasha Henstridge) that has been created in a top-secret laboratory (from the same batch of embryos that resulted in Sil from the original Species movie).
It seems that one (or more) of the crew of the recent Mars mission is host to an alien, and unless they are captured, they will endeavour to procreate ASAP with as many partners as possible.
Species II has a very silly story, with some particularly daft plot turns (Eve learns to drive from watching The Dukes of Hazzard!), but with lashings of quality gore (including several gruesome alien births and a shotgun blast to the head), better alien effects than the first film, and even more nudity, this sequel is still very enjoyable and worth watching if you liked the original.
Michael Madsen returns as tough-guy Press, along with Marg Helgenberger as science bod Laura Baker, and also turning up for the fun is the ever reliable James Cromwell as the senator father of space hero Captain Ross.
If you're in the mood for some undemanding mindless sci-fi horror, then check out Species IIit's not as bad as a lot of people seem to think!
Once back on Earth, the astronauts are subjected to several tests; whilst checking the blood sample from Captain Ross (Justin Lazard), the team leader, a scientist is mysteriously killed. When the dead man's body is examined, DNA is found which is similar to that of Eve, a human/alien hybrid (Natasha Henstridge) that has been created in a top-secret laboratory (from the same batch of embryos that resulted in Sil from the original Species movie).
It seems that one (or more) of the crew of the recent Mars mission is host to an alien, and unless they are captured, they will endeavour to procreate ASAP with as many partners as possible.
Species II has a very silly story, with some particularly daft plot turns (Eve learns to drive from watching The Dukes of Hazzard!), but with lashings of quality gore (including several gruesome alien births and a shotgun blast to the head), better alien effects than the first film, and even more nudity, this sequel is still very enjoyable and worth watching if you liked the original.
Michael Madsen returns as tough-guy Press, along with Marg Helgenberger as science bod Laura Baker, and also turning up for the fun is the ever reliable James Cromwell as the senator father of space hero Captain Ross.
If you're in the mood for some undemanding mindless sci-fi horror, then check out Species IIit's not as bad as a lot of people seem to think!
But still...
Gady15 September 1998
Oh my god is this thing BAD...
Swampfox8 June 1999
A lot of people must have needed to make house payments, their names listed at the beginning of this film as a testament. Put another way, one could do a Jeff Foxworthyesque comedy bit called "Your career might be in trouble if..." and the answer is "You worked on Species II." I have never felt so embarrassed for a group of actors as I had watching these thespians run through painfully stupid dialogue. The script is so inept you have to wonder if it wasn't written by a committee - of middle schoolers. Except for the sex and violence. Or, more succinctly the sexual violence. The filmmakers have some definite problems with women. Unlike the first film, which this outing makes to look like "2001" by comparison, here we only see women being ripped bloodily apart, usually during sex. There are bad movies that are fun to watch and laugh at. This turd is not one of them.
Beyond Bad!
Maciste_Brother5 February 2003
SPECIES 2 is by far the stupidest, ugliest, most worthless movie I ever had to pay for (rented the video). It's simply pointless to write a constructive critique for this piece of trash. Everything about this movie is executed so badly that I'm sure NO ONE watched the dailies after a day of shooting. It's beyond bad. The story of an astronaut who was infected by a alien "virus" he got on Mars and starts impregnating as many women as possible upon his return to earth, with the women becoming instantly pregnant and exploding in buckets of gore as they give birth to the alien offsprings is, well, unpleasant to say the least. Had the film's approach been different (like a Peter Jackson gore comedies) then maybe the film might have been passable but as it is now, it's pure schlocky by-the-numbers exploitation with no redeeming qualities, even in a "it's so bad it's good" way.
Absolutely sickening...
Robert-1325 August 1999
Plan 9 From Outer Space almost has a competitor for the worst science fiction movie ever made, except that the production values on this one are higher. However, this is a blatantly and violently misogynistic piece of crap that not only was not worth the time to watch, but also left me personally feeling soiled and wanting to take a shower.
0/5. There is absolutely nothing redeemable about this one.
0/5. There is absolutely nothing redeemable about this one.
"I'm about to go back to Africa on somebody's ass!"
The_Movie_Cat3 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Wow... were there really racial stereotypes as bad as that in the movies less than ten years ago? Probably the most offensive thing out of many offensive things in Species II, Mykelti Williamson plays a man who can't utter a single sentence without it being a reference to himself as a "brother", or how much he wants some "bootie". There's even a reference to him having large genitals, and of course when he gets the girl, she has to be black. God forbid he should actually date a white girl, right? I'm actually amazed they didn't just stick a mop and bucket and a bowl of KFC in his hand and have done with it. An absolutely risible representation of black man in a trash movie.
Naturally, this being Hollywood then the strong (ie. white male) survive to dominate the picture. Sure, the women can talk about science, but they're there to be told to shut up and sit back so we can concentrate on Natasha Henstridge's breasts. Of course, in these sort of films the makers forget that someone gets to be an alpha male by brains as well as testosterone, so we get the thick as bricks Patrick (played by Justin Lazard) walking around doing whatever he pleases. Hey, he's a red blooded, wholesome American - he gets to do what he wants, right? That includes having the exploitative titillation of the entire premise (alien propagates via sex) subverted with an attempted rape. There's even a delightful cut scene instated on the DVD where he kills a transvestite. Lovely stuff.
In the opposite corner as the tolerable face of ego-led masculinity is Michael Madsen in a "what the Hell is he doing in this?" excursion. I see from IMDb that two straight-to-video sequels were released. As I can't think why on Earth I watched the first one, let alone the second, then I think I'll give them a miss. Truly repulsive film-making.
Oh, one last thing - look out for the glass when Eve (Henstridge) breaks out of her cage. It actually shatters before she touches it.
Naturally, this being Hollywood then the strong (ie. white male) survive to dominate the picture. Sure, the women can talk about science, but they're there to be told to shut up and sit back so we can concentrate on Natasha Henstridge's breasts. Of course, in these sort of films the makers forget that someone gets to be an alpha male by brains as well as testosterone, so we get the thick as bricks Patrick (played by Justin Lazard) walking around doing whatever he pleases. Hey, he's a red blooded, wholesome American - he gets to do what he wants, right? That includes having the exploitative titillation of the entire premise (alien propagates via sex) subverted with an attempted rape. There's even a delightful cut scene instated on the DVD where he kills a transvestite. Lovely stuff.
In the opposite corner as the tolerable face of ego-led masculinity is Michael Madsen in a "what the Hell is he doing in this?" excursion. I see from IMDb that two straight-to-video sequels were released. As I can't think why on Earth I watched the first one, let alone the second, then I think I'll give them a miss. Truly repulsive film-making.
Oh, one last thing - look out for the glass when Eve (Henstridge) breaks out of her cage. It actually shatters before she touches it.
Piece of Garbage
Slaw-219 July 1999
If I could've given this movie a 0 when I voted, I would be a much happier man. Usually sequels are worse than the first one and with the first Species movie being the junk pile it was, this had tons of room for improvement. The only redeeming quality in here is a few memorable one liners but they are only memorable because they are so terrible (listen for the classic "Maternity Ward from Hell" line). Acting? Well there isn't any. I have no idea why James Cromwell would be in this pile of space garbage. Terrible acting, terrible script, simply put, just plain terrible. Whatever you do, stay away from this terrible attempt at film making.
A Sequel to a Second-Rate Franchise with a Top-Notch Director
gavin694226 February 2016
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.
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.
Utter Trash.
AaronCapenBanner28 August 2013
God-awful sequel is so bad it makes the original classy and inspired by comparison. Sequel has astronauts being infected on Mars by the same alien DNA that caused all the trouble the first time, and when they return home, go on a murderous reproductive spree to take over the Earth. Again, this has some returning cast members, all of whom deserve better than this excessively violent, sleazy, foul-mouthed and feeble-minded film.
Hard to believe this farrago was directed by Peter Medak, who made the exceptionally fine ghost story "The Changeling"(1980) None of that class, intelligence and subtlety is on display here. At one point, a character screams "This isn't the (censored) "The X-Files"! No kidding, though guest star Peter Boyle did appear in one of that series' best episodes, so would know better than anybody else the gulf of quality between them!
Hard to believe this farrago was directed by Peter Medak, who made the exceptionally fine ghost story "The Changeling"(1980) None of that class, intelligence and subtlety is on display here. At one point, a character screams "This isn't the (censored) "The X-Files"! No kidding, though guest star Peter Boyle did appear in one of that series' best episodes, so would know better than anybody else the gulf of quality between them!
holy crap this got a low IMDb rating!
LinkGoku1 August 2010
i saw this DVD having never seen SPECIES II before thinking "i wonder if its as good as the first was?" and all i have to say in response to watching it is "how does it only have 3.8/10?" I didn't have much expectations for it as a sequel but i was pleasantly surprised.
Michael Madsen and Marg Helgenberger return acting just as great as they were in the first film, as did Natasha Henstridge, Justin Lazard was a fantastic choice for his role, Mykelti Williamson, wasn't exactly award winning but he could have been a lot worse, and the same goes for James Cromwell.
the special effects were astonishing just as in the first one.
i thoroughly enjoyed this movie so i give it 8/10.
but my question for all haters of this movie and the first is "how else should it have been done? with Species rats?"
Michael Madsen and Marg Helgenberger return acting just as great as they were in the first film, as did Natasha Henstridge, Justin Lazard was a fantastic choice for his role, Mykelti Williamson, wasn't exactly award winning but he could have been a lot worse, and the same goes for James Cromwell.
the special effects were astonishing just as in the first one.
i thoroughly enjoyed this movie so i give it 8/10.
but my question for all haters of this movie and the first is "how else should it have been done? with Species rats?"
For WHAT it is--it's OK
preppy-39 January 2005
This movie begins with a REALLY stupid premise: they recreate the SIL from the first film (who killed many people and is still played by Herstridge)and they try to figure out a way to kill her in case creatures like her invade Earth! (!!!???) Meanwhile a manned mission to Mars returns to Earth unknowingly infected with an alien virus which produces a MALE version of SIL (Justin Lazard). Like the first he has to mate with women who get pregnant immediately and the babies FORCE their way out.
Now this IS a stupid movie--no two ways about it. The plot is dumb full of plot loopholes, the dialogue is howlingly stupid (I THINK some of the lines were meant as jokes), it's VERY gory and contains a large amount of female nudity (naturally Lazard is never shown completely nude). BUT, as a stupid B movie, it does work. I was truthfully never bored. It's only 90 minutes and DOES move quickly. Also the special effects aren't bad...but not as good as the first.
The acting, like in the first one, varies. Herstridge is actually not bad--she was terrible in the first one. Michael Madsen walks through his role. Marg Helgenberger was surprisingly good (considering she has the worst dialogue). James Cromwell is excellent as a slimy senator. As the main SIL here Lazard tries--but he's given nothing to work with. He is a very handsome man with a very nice body but can't do anything with his character.
And it has a silly ending which sets up Species III. There is one very disturbing aspect of this picture--there are MANY views of nude women torn open and dead as their babies come out. We get the idea with the first one but they keep constantly showing other victims. It's unpleasant and sick...it gives the film a very sick edge. Because of that I can only give this a 6. Again--this is NOT a good movie but a very good/bad one.
Now this IS a stupid movie--no two ways about it. The plot is dumb full of plot loopholes, the dialogue is howlingly stupid (I THINK some of the lines were meant as jokes), it's VERY gory and contains a large amount of female nudity (naturally Lazard is never shown completely nude). BUT, as a stupid B movie, it does work. I was truthfully never bored. It's only 90 minutes and DOES move quickly. Also the special effects aren't bad...but not as good as the first.
The acting, like in the first one, varies. Herstridge is actually not bad--she was terrible in the first one. Michael Madsen walks through his role. Marg Helgenberger was surprisingly good (considering she has the worst dialogue). James Cromwell is excellent as a slimy senator. As the main SIL here Lazard tries--but he's given nothing to work with. He is a very handsome man with a very nice body but can't do anything with his character.
And it has a silly ending which sets up Species III. There is one very disturbing aspect of this picture--there are MANY views of nude women torn open and dead as their babies come out. We get the idea with the first one but they keep constantly showing other victims. It's unpleasant and sick...it gives the film a very sick edge. Because of that I can only give this a 6. Again--this is NOT a good movie but a very good/bad one.
If this can be called a sequel...
jetairliner11 April 2002
I admit that I saw the first "Species" urged by the names of H.R. Giger and Ben Kingsley. I was in the end kind of disappointed - I was expecting more. "Species 2" proved to be even a bigger flop. My God, what were they thinking of when making up the so-called story for this yucky movie ? Why horrible alien baby births, why slimier tentacles, why, why, why? Only one point out of five and this goes for Natasha - superb, but not good enough, for Helgenberger - a better job than in the first film and for Edward Shearmur's score. I like gore in a film but only if it is justified. Here it isn't. At all. It seems, you guys, have learned nothing from the first "Species" 's flop. Too bad, Mr. Medak !
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