Splice – I know it looks like Species, but it’s not really the same.

I first thought “Great, this is the same idea as Species“. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be different.

Unfortunately I was let down when the movie turned out to be mediocre and didn’t realize its full potential. The premise is that two scientists, Clive and Elsa,(a somewhat dysfunctional married couple played by Sarah Polley and Adrian Brody) break some rules and create a chimera made up of various animals and human DNA. They have to raise this thing in secret while dealing with the research that is required of them by their bosses and the people funding their project.

This is all great fodder for a really interesting science fiction film. Many questions are raised such as:

Should we create such a creature? How much humanity does a strange cross breed like that truly have, even if it behaves in a human fashion? Can this slightly dysfunctional couple learn to be parents to this odd creature?

Some of these questions are answered and the way they are handled brings about some creepy and unexpected scenes. The unfortunate part is that the film dwells on the unnecessary, such as bombarding us with scientific jargon in the beginning only to give us very little information on what went into the creature’s DNA. We get some information about Elsa’s troubled past, but it’s only there to explain her behavior in one odd scene. We also get a lot of odd creature transformations that take this from science fiction and into fantasy land.

This film can’t seem to decide if it wants to give us a philosophical look at scientists playing God and the humanity of their resulting scientific work, whether a dysfunctional couple can learn to parent something that is not entirely human or whether it’s an action horror movie.

Two and half stars **1/2 – Mostly for having an interesting concept that was not executed very well.

Trailer

Director – Vincenzo Natali

Get Him to the Greek – A gross out rockin comedy with heart.

This Nicholas Stoller directed film is about the character of rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) who was first introduced in 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall also directed by Stoller.

Snow is a lascivious and promiscuous rock star that has just fallen off the wagon. Aaron Green (Johan Hill) is a nerdy fan of Snow who works for a crazy record executive (Sean P. Diddy Combs himself). Aaron has been given 72 hours to go to London and pick up Snow and get him to L.A.’s Greek theater for a comeback concert.

Aaron has to survive the rocker’s drug and booze infested world as he tries to get him from Europe to an interview with the today show and eventually across the U.S.A. to the Greek theater in L.A. He has to try to deal with Aldous’s addictions and crazy drug dealers. He attempts to get through to Aldous’s human emotions and ends up on a nearly disastrous side trip that provides great laughs in the form Snow’s father (Colm Meany) and an intense record executive gone wild. On top of all this he has to work through his relationship with this hard-working girlfriend Daphne (Elizabeth Moss).

This film is in the vein of the other Judd Apatow produced films. There’s a good mix of raunchy humor, real human emotion and issues. My small complaint is that sometimes the film goes over the top to get a laugh. The character of Jackie Q (Rose Byrne), Snow’s girlfriend is a pop star with ridiculous videos that are just there for raunchy humor. There is also a slight obsession with vomiting in this film. Otherwise the mix of humor and drama works really well. A lot of credit also goes to Hill and Brand for being great actors and making the characters extremely likable.

Three and a half stars ***1/2

Trailer

Director – Nicholas Stoller