Splice (2010)
Starring Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, and Delphine Chanéac
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Partners in both research and in romance, genetic engineers Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) have successfully spliced together genes from a variety of creatures to create a brand new species of animal that will hopefully allow for some great medical breakthroughs with regards to curing various diseases. Unwilling to stop there, the duo decides to splice human DNA into their next creation. The hybrid human is successfully brought to term, but the creature has much more aggressive tendencies than regular humans. Nonetheless, Clive and Elsa decide to watch over the creature and study its growth while attempting to keep it a secret from their colleagues. As the creature grows and begins to take on more human characteristics, Clive and Elsa find themselves growing emotionally closer to the creature becoming more and more like parents and giving it the name of Dren. It shouldn't be much of a surprise to discover that things slowly begin to spiral out of control and Dren's animalistic tendencies begin to suppress the human characteristics creating a bit of chaos.
I actually bought into the premise which certainly works in the film's favor (although it did remind me of some other movie that I can't quite put my finger on). The problem really lies in the fact that the horror side of the film just isn't all that scary. When Dren, who started out more animal-like, begins to shift from human back to animal again, the special effects (which should have elicited some excitement or tension) veered towards the cheesy side.
It doesn't help that both Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are about as exciting as watching paint dry. It amazes me that Brody actually won an Oscar because in every single thing that I've seen him in post-Pianist, he is emotionless. [I need to go back and watch The Pianist and see if he's as good as I remember.] I've also seen Polley in a few things and, like Brody, she's just vacant all the time. There's very little chemistry between these two supposed lovebirds.
Surprisingly, though, I wasn't completely turned off by Splice, but I can't really pinpoint anything beyond the premise that really won me over. My rating below may seem a tad high based on my review above, but it falls into that "Meh" category that I wouldn't exactly recommend to people, but wouldn't tell people to shy away from.
I actually bought into the premise which certainly works in the film's favor (although it did remind me of some other movie that I can't quite put my finger on). The problem really lies in the fact that the horror side of the film just isn't all that scary. When Dren, who started out more animal-like, begins to shift from human back to animal again, the special effects (which should have elicited some excitement or tension) veered towards the cheesy side.
It doesn't help that both Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are about as exciting as watching paint dry. It amazes me that Brody actually won an Oscar because in every single thing that I've seen him in post-Pianist, he is emotionless. [I need to go back and watch The Pianist and see if he's as good as I remember.] I've also seen Polley in a few things and, like Brody, she's just vacant all the time. There's very little chemistry between these two supposed lovebirds.
Surprisingly, though, I wasn't completely turned off by Splice, but I can't really pinpoint anything beyond the premise that really won me over. My rating below may seem a tad high based on my review above, but it falls into that "Meh" category that I wouldn't exactly recommend to people, but wouldn't tell people to shy away from.
The RyMickey Rating: C
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