SPECIES - THE AWAKENING

The origin of the SPECIES - and I'm not talking Darwinism here…or maybe I am - began with a new, nubile and nude Natasha Henstridge rousing every male genre fan's unanswered libido as Sil, the Sexual Terrestrial who made first contact, second contact and then some with various human males. Sil had some very close encounters of the coitus kind searching for the perfect mate to copulate with - and kill. Talk about your one-night stands. Speaking of Darwin, I can't help but make reference to his survival of the fittest theory - for that is not only every female alien's desire in the resulting movie series, but it actually applies to these films. This sexual SF saga should have ended after the original, which I actually enjoyed: Ben (Call Me "Sir") Kingsley and breasts in an alien-on-the-rampage flick - you had me at Kingsley! But its box-office success spawned (no pun intended) a big-screen follow-up with Henstridge, then a direct-to-DVD sequel with Sunny Mabrey taking over the lead role. Both were unnecessary, and followed the template of the first film, with the redeeming element of excessive nudity drawing horny genre fans like a bra-less Jeri Ryan at an SF convention.

The SPECIES franchise is basically softcore, Cinemax-After-Dark genre porn. I'm a genre fan myself, but there's something weird about getting your rocks off while watching chicks turning into aliens, ample cleavage or not. SPECIES - THE AWAKENING's Helena Mattsson is the latest blonde bombshell to essay another alien on the hunt for a mate and some murder, but at this point in time, I'm so fatigued by the formula that I wish these horny hybrids would try Internet dating and just cut to the chase. The verse-chorus-verse of hot alien babe eager to do the horizontal bop with a guy in order to produce a child is so old by now that the filmmakers should start looking for COCOON-esque pods in pools to rejuvenate the series. I'll give them Wilfred Brimley's number.

There's one reason why SPECIES films are still made, and that's because they make money. Gordon Gekko may believe that greed is good, but that doesn't translate to good filmmaking. While Mattsson is easy on the eyes and the movie was made with a certain degree of competency, SPECIES - THE AWAKENING (debuting on the Sci Fi Channel this Saturday, September 29 ahead of its DVD release next Tuesday, October 2) is day-old bread. Give me something fresh, please! I will grant director Nick Lyon and scripter Ben Ripley (who also penned the third installment) some credit, and recognize that they tried to take the series in a different and more sympathetic direction, but there's only so much you can do when you're dealing with a mimeograph machine.

The story this time around has University professor Miranda (Mattsson) discovering that she's an alien after metamorphosing, murdering a dude and waking up naked the next day (haven't we all had nights like that?). Her uncle Tom (no Harriet Beecher Stowe jokes, please) explains to her that he's not so avuncular (I love that word, but is there one for aunt-like qualities?), and actually created her as an extraterrestrial hybrid with some of his scientific buddies. Ben Cross plays Tom, and is miscast in the role; he's supposed to be essaying a remorseful, caring man who wants to help Miranda, but his performance comes across as distant and cold. I've seen more emotion in Al Gore.

There isn't as much nudity this time out, which might cause some science friction with fans who want more skin and less sci-fi, or horror enthusiasts who crave more breasts than blood. But Mattsson does a nice job with her role - she's not just some foreign supermodel with a pretty face spitting out dialogue. This entry is more about angst than anger, which is one of its redeeming qualities. Miranda wants to quell her instincts, not pursue them. Another attraction is the addition of Marlene Favela as the villainous hybrid who serves as Miranda's antagonist. Come the third act, there's some serious girl-on-girl action - but this being a SPECIES film, that involves hot-chicks-turned-aliens getting it on in violent fashion, fighting more viciously than Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck on THE VIEW.

If you're an SF-horror fan who's a sucker for sequels, you'll watch this on Sci Fi. If you're an SF-horror fan who's a sucker for sequels with celebrity skin, you'll rent the unrated DVD (on which the movie looks and sounds very slick, though there are no special features). There are many more films worse than SPECIES - THE AWAKENING, but there are many more that are better. I would suggest skipping this AWAKENING and instead reading Kate Chopin's THE AWAKENING, which is also about a woman looking for the perfect mate. There aren't any aliens or graphic sex scenes in that story, but I expect you'll enjoy it more.

From Fangoria