Splice

Splice is a tricky picture to evaluate, for its ideas are superb. One could argue that it brings a new petri dish full of meddling scientists facing the consequences of their actions, while conversely it justifiably feels like a Cronenberg knock-off.

Psychological discord is in abundance, with its slants on skew-whiff parenting giving the pic a dark fascination, and as unpleasant as the male fantasy angle is, it does hold a morbid interest factor.

Yet come the final third the makers let things run away from them, the bonkers dangers of tampering with science giving way to daft schlock, even managing to be distasteful in the process - while the finale is a weak attempt at a "TBC" cliff hanger.

Lead cast members are turning in good perfs. Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as the meddling science couple hold court well, and Delphine Chaneac as the Chimera splicer of the piece really nails all the various emotional strands required for a tricky role.

Director Vincenzo Natali has shown with Cube and Cypher he has something to offer the horror/sci-fi splinters of film, but this is a mixed bag. A film of great ideas let down by overheating the plot for shock values, while the levity inserted into the play is misguided and damaging for dramatic worth. 6/10

Splice was a movie that had a lot of promise. It seemed to be building towards something special, but got lost in an unnecessary plot thread that didn't quite work towards the end. THis specific plot started with a scene involving the creature and the character played by Adrian Brody, and it was a scene that didn't quite work because there wasn't enough of a build up towards something like that happening. Sure there were some scenes leading towards that, but in my opinion those scenes were not enough to take such a major step forward, not after he first showed disgust towards the creature at the earlier phases of its development. On top of that the movie goes even farther into absurdity at the conclusion, involving the character played by Sarah Polley and the creature again, taking much of the intelligence of the film out of the equation.

In my opinion, the director was onto something in the beginning but then took the story into an unnecessary direction that might've still worked if there had been some real build up to those points which led to the conclusion. Sure there were some signs, but really not enough. Instead the movie ends in what can only be called a total WTF moment, and it doesn't work at all. Not a horrible movie, but only average and not recommended.

Lol... Seriously, what did I just watch?? I can't decide if this movie is brilliant, cheezy, profound, juvenile, disgusting or the biggest turn-on since "I Spit On Your Grave". I'm not sure if you'll love or hate this flick, but if you will definitely NOT forget it.

As you can guess from the movie posters, the story is about an artificially-engineered humanoid who's pretty hot. Let your imagination take it from there. What makes this story so memorable is that the writers aren't afraid to take it wherever it needs to go. And then some. Like if you thought "Species" was perverse, it looks like "The Flying Nun" compared to this.

Just to throw some words out there: incest, bestiality, rape, science, incest. And yes, I know I said it twice.

I found myself, in the depths of my twisted mind, thinking "woah, wouldn't it be crazy if (such and such) happens..." and sure enough it does, only to be followed by "oh but they wouldn't dare let (such and such) happen..." and sure enough it does again. Normally I would say predictability is a flaw, but in this case it's thrilling. The whole experience is like a voyeuristic romp, testing the limits of how screwed-up the writers' (and your own) imagination can get. The point being, I'm sure, to show just how morally wrong it is for scientists to engage in vivisection & the creation of life. This is like Frankenstein on steroids.

Like seriously, my hippie brethren, put down your picket signs and just show this movie on street corners... You'll see an end to vivisection overnight.

Parts of this story seemed ridiculous & comic booky, but just when I'm about to write it off as childish tosh it introduces some incredibly complex themes like a Greek play. You think Oedipus had problems? Hahaha Oedipus never saw SPLICE. It would make him go crying to his momma.

The more I think of it, I think this film is brilliant. Much like "Starship Troopers" was a deep socio-political satire disguised as a campy action flick, I think SPLICE gives us a techno-moral satire disguised as a thriller. But like I said, I have no clue if this is masterpiece material or just plain cheese. Most likely the filmmakers deliberately used elements of both.

If you like scifi satires like "Starship Troopers", "District 9", or scifi morality plays about the creation of new lifeforms as in "Solaris", "Moon", "Alien Resurrection", or the one that started them all, "Frankenstein" (2004 miniseries, the best version), maybe with a bit of "Species" eroticism & "Rosemary's Baby" & "The Omen" & "Mommy Dearest" & "Flowers in the Attic" thrown in, then this is for you. I think...

By the way, y'ever notice how aliens & evolved humanoids always look just like Bjork? Just sayin...

Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) are scientists of the Newstead Pharmaceutics researching the splice of DNA from different animals to form new genetic beings and find medical benefits to mankind. They have just created the hybrid Ginger and Fred and now they intend to join together human DNA to alter the genetic structure of their experiment. When the senior management calls off their experiment, they decide to secretly proceed and they generate a life form with human characteristics. They call it Dren (Delphine Chaneac) and Elsa is very fond of their creation that grows up fast and showing intelligence. When the company shutdown their experiment, they bring Dren to Elsa's abandoned farm and the scientists raise Dren like a daughter. But when it reaches adulthood, the sex drive of Dren is activated and Clive and Elsa learn that they have a serious problem to resolve.

"Splice" is a dramatic sci-fi horror film with the story of two young unethical scientists that decide to play God. The plot is unoriginal but is attractive and engaging, specially because the trio formed by Sarah Polley, Adrian Brody and Delphine Chanéac. The childhood trauma of Elsa is absolutely out of the context and a diversion to the mainstream. The special effects and make-up are awesome, transforming the gorgeous French actress Delphine Chanéac in a creature with an exotic beauty. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Splice – A Nova Espécie" ("Splice – The New Specie")

The cinematography is good, the CGI is good enough to believe in the story, the acting is also good.

But in the end, I didn't like much the story. Simple as that. Is not that the characters make stupid decisions, like I've read in other reviews, the characters make cense, but I just didn't like them and didn't care about them.

It's definitely not a bad movie.