Species: The Awakening (2007)

I'm gonna touch on what the 4 movies were about. Minor spoiler warning.1. Species-World building. We are introduced to what it's about, who Sil is, how the Alien came to exist on Earth. Most people agree that this is the best movie in the franchise.2. Species II-Main theme is spreading the alien DNA, and creating a stronger version of it. Still great movie, good acting, good directing.3. Species III-Main theme is survival of the alien DNA. Change of actress who portrays the alien. While it is explained that Sara (the Alien) has no feelings and that is acted perfectly, she becomes a side character and rather boring in her own movie, until the third act. At this point, the movie is not a "horror" movie anymore, but it adds more to the depth of the world of Species.4. Species The Awakening-The main theme is survival, again, but this time not the survival of the alien DNA, but the human side of the alien. While characters are more fleshed out, and acting is not bad at all, the story is just so plain and boring, the alien costume looks much cheaper than the ones from the 3 previous movies, especially noticeable on the face, and the movie ignores a big part of how the aliens were introduced in the previous movies, more on that later.SPOILERS AHEAD: 10 minutes in you learn who the characters are, how they fit the Species universe, and what their goal is. Miranda (main alien) is sick, save it, go to Mexico.This is where the established principles about aliens changed. 1. In the first 3 movies, aliens killed mainly when threatened, or out of necessity. In this one, they kill out of boredom I guess, as the main 2 aliens kill multiple people just for the heck of it.2. In the first 3 movies, the aliens killed away from witnesses and tried to blend in. In this movie, both aliens not only kill for no reason, they kill and transform (showing off their alien eyes) in public. This was for me blasphemy and lowered the movie rating a lot.3. The first 3 movies had maybe 1 jump scare moment in each. This one has multiple, which do scare, but using a cheap trick.4. In the first 3 movies, all aliens had a strong urge to get pregnant. In this movie, it's kinda forcefully tacked in, just at the end of the movie and again, used very badly. Miranda gets pregnant, she is in pain from the baby, lying on a medical bed. 2 minutes later she is transformed fighting Azura with no pain, and the baby is never mentioned again.Now the inconsistency problem.The enemy alien, Azura, is boring and is introduced as inferior to the main alien Miranda, even called outright stupid in the movie, and given a super bad accent which sounds Russian, not Mexican. But then later on that is ignored and suddenly that stupid alien has the same ability as the main alien to absorb whole books of knowledge just by holding them for a few seconds. This ability was introduced in the 3rd movie, it's stupid and impossible to explain scientifically, and even then it was not used logically-there was potential that was never tapped into. So an alien can read books and memorize everything by holding the book, but they don't go to a library to hold all the books in one day and be capable of outsmarting any potential foe? She is inferior, but in alien form she has abilities that Miranda does not possess.Azura is sometimes good, sometimes bad. It's never explained why. She seems to be making her own decisions, and she is never seen being given orders.Azura neither got her accent from the man who bred her, nor from her environment, which would be the first two logical places to get an accent.The movie establishes rivalry between Azura and Miranda, but Azura helps save Miranda from certain death.Overall, it is good that this movie is not called Species IV as it was at one point, so it can be cut out as non-canon. Every movie had a different director and it is time to settle that and find someone who knows how to do it, or return one of the first 2.

Realizing that his bio-engineered daughter is turning into her fully-alien counterpart, a doctor takes her to Mexico for help in controlling the change, only instead unleashing a far more vicious side to her than he imagined.A lot more enjoyable than imagined, due mainly to the fact that the warring nature of her transformation is almost always present, resulting in the changes that force out more action and science fiction elements as well as the occasional jolt of horror with some bloody killings spread throughout that give off some good points every so often. Again with the added element of a lot of extra nudity, a far more ferocious pace and some minor bioengineering babble thrown into the mix, this one comes out far better than expected and actually has some fun, especially once the rebirth takes place and there's actually a confrontation between two alien mutations that is a lot of fun in a cheesy manner. Has a few minor issues to deal with, but surprisingly nothing too serious as this is a lot of fun.Rated R: Full Nudity, Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and several Sex Scenes

This title sums the movie up for me.This is singularly, by far the worst movie I have ever sat right through. Start with a handful of no-name actors who surprisingly can't act to save their lives. Then throw in a storyline that a primary school child could do better than, and weave some budget SFX through the mix for good measure.The stereotypical cowboy sounds like he comes from blazing saddles, and the "Australian" guy who can't work out if he's from Sydney or London all lend lack of credibility to this complete mess.Please, please don't waste the hour & a half.

The first Species movie was awesome, the second was a big disappointment, the third was surprisingly decent, but this is even worse than the second...somehow. Species: The Awakening left me checking how much was left of the it every five minutes or so. Though the plot was not that horrible, the movie is just not entertaining.After the first half hour, I must admit I thought this movie would actually be as good as the third. I was wrong, very wrong. As soon as the characters get to Mexico, this promising movie turns into a cheap, cheesy excuse for a horror movie. Why? There was no excitement. There is definitely not enough gore, almost all the sex scenes were unnecessary, and some stuff just didn't add up or made any sense whatsoever (the reason for Fisk's lies, the taxi-driver and the reason for Azura's actions when they arrive in Mexico - just to name a few).The reason for this getting a 3 and not a 1, is the first half hour of the movie, and the not-so-terrible acting. Apart from that, I'd suggest staying away from this movie, since it's by far the weakest Species movie so far, it makes Species II seem like a masterpiece. Even if this film wasn't a Species movie, it's still a movie to stay away from.