Splice

Be honest, had anyone really heard of "Splice" up to about a month before the film was released? I sure as hell hadn't. In fact, I think it slipped under almost everyone's radar. Even with so much positive buzz, the premise was all too familiar which is why I decided to skip on seeing it theatrically. Now, having seen it on DVD, I don't think I would have been disappointed if I'd seen "Splice" in theaters. It's not a bad movie, but it's not necessarily good either. It's kid of hard to describe. It's like it could have been a bad film, but it was made so damn well that it was impossible to suck. Does that make sense?

The story follows two superstar genetic engineers, Clive (Adrian Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley), who specialize in splicing DNA from various animals to create new species. Of course, they're not happy with what they've achieved and want to take their work to the next level by using human DNA in a hybrid that could revolutionize science and medicine. It's not hard to figure out what happens next. It's your typical 'Don't mess with Mother Nature' story-line and of course their new creation soon becomes their worst nightmare.

I've tried extremely hard to figure out what it is that I don't like about "Splice" but I've been unsuccessful so far. I'm not sure if it's the simplistic script trying to be something more or if it merely comes down to the fact that we've seen so many movies like it before. Either way, I've seen the movie three times and have yet to be completely satisfied. The actors are tremendous. Brody and Polley are extremely convincing in their parts. The visuals are stunning as well. The effects of the creature known as Dren are exceptionally realistic, but then again, it doesn't seem like it'd be too hard to accomplish. It's not "Avatar" by any means.

The ending was a bit disappointing. Well, I take that back. It wasn't so much disappointing as it was a little unsatisfying. I won't spoil it for you but lets just say it didn't end as I would have liked it to have. It just seemed like something was missing.

I can't say "Splice" is a bad film because it's not. It's far from it. Like I said, I don't know what it is that I find displeasing about the movie. I think sometimes I get tired of seeing the same story-line over and over. Yes, writers have been doing it for a long time, but at least they used to try and make it their own product. Now-a-days, a writer could practically copy somebody's script word for word and nobody would likely care. "Splice" isn't plagerized, but when you watch it, you do feel like you've seen the film before. It's definitely worth checking out as it's loaded with twist, turns and a few genuinely scary moments. I'm just warning you, don't let your expectations get the best of you.