Wonderful Movie

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Great Film overall

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

DNA splicing is a hot topic, taking characteristics from other organisms to create an entirely new one that theoretically should be superior. That's all well and good, but when that concept is executed to such mediocrity you can't help but feel underwhelmed. In Splice, two scientists take it upon themselves to splice human DNA into an artificial organism, as an experiment. The company they work for strictly prohibited this, and so they must monitor the experiment in secret. Consequently making such a creature will have disastrous outcomes right? Well, when it's in the hands of two of the most idiotic scientists in the world...yes. That's where my massive problem lies, the stupidity of certain characters and actions. You can't backup an intelligent concept, where our scientists consistently shout out random amino acids and proteins, with simple plain idiocy. Firstly following the experiment through was stupid anyway, so much so that the characters realise their mistake (in the aura of 'Frankenstein'). Torturing it to a point where they physically cause it emotional distress. Unable to keep hold of it, to which it escapes...in the woods...the outside world...the general population. It's just so stupid to a point that it becomes a detriment to the believability of the story. Which ultimately is a shame as the concept is there, all the ingredients are presented to them on a shiny plate. Just frustratingly combined together to create a sour dish. You can tell Del Toro produced this, the hint of dark fantasy and themes of motherhood and maturity are embedded within, which I appreciated. Brody and Poller make the best of a lacklustre script. The ending was...well, bold? Ummm...yeah, unusual and grotesque simultaneously. It is an engaging sci-fi thriller, but the implausibility and stupidity of certain aspects prevent this from being good. Moral of the story: Don't be a self-righteous scientist, it will be your downfall.

I've just watched 'Splice' for the second time. The first time I saw it, I hired it on DVD. After that viewing, I bought it and have now seen it again. So, basically, I do think it's a good enough film to watch more than once. However, now I've decided to write a review, no sooner have I logged on to see what other people thought, did I read another review's title saying something like, 'Good beginning, not so good end.' That pretty much sums up my thoughts on the film.I enjoyed the first two thirds, but I didn't feel that it fell apart towards the end. I would definitely say that it's worth watching for the most part. Adrian Broody and Sarah Polley play a couple of scientists who create a creature in a lab, but, in the tradition of all mad scientists, they take things a little too far. In this case they even take their creation home with them and it grows into quite an interesting beast.You can probably guess that their new 'addition' to their family is hardly a glowing success (otherwise it would be a pretty dull film!), so I won't say too much. It's a sort of sci-fi/horror film that does its best to throw in a few moral dilemmas that scientists have to face when it comes to how far they take their work in the lab.What makes it worth watching are the two leads. In what could have been just another B-movie the cast elevates it to something a little more. They have good chemistry and their acting talent certainly makes the script better than your average slasher flick. Then you have the creature itself. Yes, for its infancy it is computer generated. And you probably would be forgiven for thinking that the effects might look a bit ropey. Actually, they're pretty good. And, once the creature is fully-grown it gets replaced by a live actor (in make-up) who is equally as 'interesting' (for use of a better word) to look at.Like I say, 'Splice' has a lot going for it. The first two thirds are up there with the best of them when it comes to creepy horror. The final act does tend to degenerate into something a little more clichéd that doesn't do the build-up justice. But the first two thirds were good enough for me to invest in the film. And I'll probably watch it a few more times, too.

Splice is one of the best science fiction movies I have seen. Although being more a fan of space expeditions and this movie belongs to the advanced genetic engineering genre, it indeed captivated me for the full duration of the movie. The story is brilliant, but personally I feel the climax could have been much better. The last five minutes changed the flow of the story and took it to another level, a notch below where it should have actually gone. I was really confused about what actually happened. Though Elsa tells in a few words about what had happened, it was hard for me to digest it for some time. The movie raised more questions than answers by the time I completed watching. May be that itself was the purpose of the film. Then again, the closing scene was a relief. Overall I give 8/10 for the story, the flow, the effects and the characters - especially Dren!

The story offers quite a promising premise, despite it's not the first time. Unfortunately the plot becomes a little bit predictable once Elsa decides against Clive in killing the baby Dren. It goes on normally for an already predicted plot but then the plot gives away big time when Fred and Ginger show their claws and start fighting. The predictability is also done by the trailer that was giving out too much detail. That makes the only decently nice twist in the movie to be when Dren suddenly grows wings. The character developments are very imbalanced and quite unclear. Clive's character doesn't really get developed right. How can he turn from one that wanted to kill the experiment to someone that would make out with it? Also the number of characters is too small for this kind of movie to work. It should at least have two more characters to give the story more color. The acting is a standard job in overall. Adrien Brody gets quite confused in expressions when acting out the various emotions in different scenes. Sarah Polley did quite okay on the expressions, but her dialog has emotions missing here and there.