Species 2 - Not bad, but a missed opportunity

‘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!).

6/10 May just keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights