Species II (1998)

'Species' was always a classic B-movie and it certainly made enough money to guarantee a sequel. The good news is that (most of) the principal cast returned (quite a rarity in sequels these days) and it sort of follows the Terminator/T2 rule where the original bad guy is now the good guy, helping to defeat something even worse.Despite the original alien, played by Natasha Henstridge with her trademark lack of clothes, being killed off in the original, she's been cloned back now to help the human race hunt down a second alien (this time male). Now… that doesn't sound like a bad plot for a B-movie, however, my main problem was that Natasha Henstridge is hardly in it! She only really comes into the film in the final act and, by then, it's a little too late to make any real difference.The story focuses on all the wrong characters. Even though you also have Michael Madsen and Marg Helgenberger reprise their respective characters, the film spends too much time on those related to sub-plots and a new sidekick who is little more than a wise-cracking helper who's constant slang and (alleged) witticisms about his lack of sex soon become annoying.But, when the story gets it right, it still retains enough of the fun and bloodthirsty chaos of the original to make it just about watchable. If you've never experienced the 'Species' franchise, start with the original. If you like that, you may want to check out this one (It's pretty widely regarded that part III is a waste of time!).http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

The species franchise started out on a fair note, and was dealt a mortal blow by this movie. Let's be honest, its always good to see Natasha H, but that is really about all that's good about the movie. There are more plot holes than swiss cheese, more non sense science to shake your head about. Most of us can suspend disbelief for a decent plot effort but this requires ratcheting that up to a new level. For instance when this movie was made the danger of blood borne pathogens was well understood, yet people blithely handle blood soaked "alien" blood soaked material as though they didn't care about becoming infected. In addition the characterizations were so wooden even a termite might have become interested in the "People." Do yourself a favor and spend your time doing something better with your life than waste it on this movie- walk the dog, take the trash out, scrub your tile or anything else.

Species II (1998)* 1/2 (out of 4) Really bad sequel to the 1995 hit was clearly meant to cash-in on the first film's success as there's not an ounce of proof that anyone was wanting to do something good. This time out three astronauts are the first to land on Mars but on their way home there's a seven-minute gap that they can't remember. It turns out one of them (Justin Lazard) is contaminated with alien DNA and now he's impregnating as many women as possible so that they will give birth to alien babies. Back in the lab, Eve (Natasha Henstridge), a replica of the alien from the first film, has a connection to the latest alien while Dr. Baker (Marg Helgenberger) and Lenox (Michael Madsen) try and figure out what to do next. Despite three cast members from the original returning, this film doesn't have any of the originals charm or excitement and in the end you can't help but feel that you're wasting your time watching something that was only made to try and make some quick cash. The movie doesn't work on any level but the biggest sin is the fact that it's deadly boring from the opening scene to the final one. The opening stuff in space just looks plain cheap and the special effects are more laughable than anything else. The end chase tries to recapture the magic of the film film but fails as there's not a bit of suspense and by the time the ending does happen you simply don't care what happens. Everything in the middle is just mind-numbingly bad as we get to see Madsen and Helgenberger discuss what they should do next while evil government official want to do things a different way. Both Madsen and Helgenberger appear to be going by-the-numbers as neither add any life to their characters. The same is true for Lazard who's just not very convincing in his role as the alien. The supporting cast includes Mykelti Williamson, George Dzundza and James Cromwell but none of these fine actors bring much to the film either. Henstridge stays in a cage for the majority of the running time so she doesn't get to add much but thankfully she does strip towards the end of the picture. Peter Boyle appears uncredited and steals the film in his small role. SPECIES II is an ultra-cheap and downright boring sequel that never should have been made but we still have two more films in the series.

While nowhere as overly lovable as the original, and far less interesting than the succeeder, Species 2 is commonly regarded as the downfall of the series.I don't blame those who say that. It may just be me but the CGI looks worse. And the gore is piled on by the bucket load. Since the gore was one of the reasons the original got a cult following. Guess they thought "Hey, people like the blood. Lets add more this time..." The gore appears to be a desperation move in this flick. And speaking of desperation, we move to the...other....reason the original got a cult following. The soft core porn and, almost random, nudity. Taking that little ingrediant, and like gore, doubling it. Not to be funny, but watching the original on your own...when the nudity arrived...its hard to keep your friend down...this time it just over doses it a tad, almost making it feel awkward considering this is not meant to be a porn video. I'm giving it 7, which kind of sounds contradictory considering all I talked about was the bad things. But it is...at times...decent. And if you want "fan service" then this film is the mecca of them all. Just consider this is a little less action chick, a little more skin flick.