SPLICE is the reason I go to the movies. If there was ever a "monster movie franchise" destined for a greatness that could even surpass that of the ALIEN franchise--it's SPLICE.
Director Vincenzo Natali comes into his own, with this superb flick. (His first movie I saw was '97's CUBE. Whereas CUBE was "pretty good", SPLICE, on the other hand, gets an A+ and easily vaults Natali onto the same directorial stage as David Cronenberg and Ridley Scott.)
{SPECIES was merely an "OK" movie, if that, at best; at worst, SPECIES may be overlooked as a hackneyed, derivative attempt to capitalize on stereotypical horror/monster movie tropes.}
The movie SPLICE is another sort of hybrid creature altogether. I read some reviews in which the reviewer has stated that this movie is "not what you expect" and "the first kill doesn't even happen until after halfway through" and "it has a lot of envelope-pushing twists", all of this adding up to a "2-and-a-half stars" review; any discerning, intelligent adult should react to this contradictory assessment with a resounding "What?" Because those are all the very reasons I personally find this movie to be grade-A material. What is that reviewer trying to say? That he was disappointed in the fact that he didn't get a formulaic monster movie? You have to ask yourself - does that reviewer honestly feel cheated by being deprived of the comforting formula that he expected -? - -or is he concerned that the average moviegoer will be traumatically derailed from their comfort zone?
So if you need to be comforted by the familiar expectation of having your regular buttons pushed (in other words, if movies for you are like a prescription for Xanax) then go right ahead and eschew this dark, intelligent, and original movie in favor of the next typical horror movie remake. I'm sure the new Nightmare on Elm Street should pacify your dependency and leave your grey cells alone and undisturbed.
SPLICE is altogether unconcerned with suckling the masses on the soporific teat of narcotic expectations, and therefore stands out amidst the rest of the pack as a truly original hybrid beast of moviegoing pleasures. Although the premise of two geneticists working together as a couple does stretch the believability index a tad, Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley nonetheless are excellent as the scientists splicing genes to mine pharmaceutical breakthroughs for their corporate bosses. What I found particularly liberating about the SPLICE moviegoing experience, is that since the premise itself is already outlandish (the modern fabrication of genetic chimeras), this grants the audience a "suspension-of-disbelief pass" which helps pave the way towards many of the plot's twists and turns.
SPLICE has a motherlode of subtext and innuendo sure to spark the imagination of any creative intellect. Rather than settling for being just another typical monster movie, it is instead more focused on being a psychological thriller concerned with the nuclear family unit and the evolution of species. You thought Ridley Scott's ALIEN was a psychological thriller? Compared to SPLICE, even the original ALIEN appears as just another monster movie, in some respects. Here is your bonafide, genuine psychological, anthropomorphic, and mythological monster movie, which in my humble and honest opinion, trumps the achievements of such classic fare as ALIEN, etc.
The superb special effects (rendered in part by Gregory Nicotero, now considered one of the best in the field) are only the icing on the proverbial cake. You don't disbelieve what your eyes are seeing for a minute. The mercurial, chimeric creation the scientists end up naming "Dren" leaps onto the silver screen as the most original special effect I've seen since Gollum.
SPLICE should keep the attentive and at least semi-literate audience members riveted to the edges of their seats throughout its entire running time. One of its many charms is the fact that you just don't know what Dren is going to do from one moment to the next, or how she/it will react to the array of brand-new stimuli ushered into the circle of her newborne consciousness.
SPLICE is also a very thoughtful exploration of the imbalance which exists in the scientific mindset. I read yet another reviewer make the blatant criticism that this movie is "about the two dumbest scientists ever"; for me to point out the very meat-headedness of this assessment really pains me, but I must do so, because that criticism is yet another citation which should serve as one of the movie's countless strengths, as far as I'm concerned. The whole point there, is obviously to show hows specialization creates an imbalance. Sure the scientists have really high IQ's, but their wisdom is severely lacking. In other words, they make terrific, star geneticists, but terrible parents. This is just one of the movie's many metaphors, which symbolizes humanity's faults as well as it's virtues.
Therefore, the story of the creation of Dren becomes the story of humanity itself. Clive and Elsa (played admirably by Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley respectively) become symbolic of Adam and Eve, and the unexpected plot development traces a complex map that touches upon many psychological and mythological truths. This is the primary reason that, for me personally, the couple of plot points I predicted ended up becoming a decidedly rewarding experience, rather than your typical "I saw that coming a mile away" which plagues the average formulaic movie. With SPLICE, if it didn't end the way I expected it to, I would be disappointed.
Thankfully for me, this movie delivered the goods with a satisfying finality that I rarely, if ever, encounter in this type of movie. So what kind of movie is it, you ask? It's a chimerical sort of cinematic creation in and of itself: part science-fiction, part horror movie, part psychological/mythological drama/comedy, SPLICE is a movie I'd like to own on DVD, and I'm hoping that it's released in its uncut, original version showcased at Sundance, that I heard about.
In short, if you're looking to have all your familiar buttons pushed and be soothed by yet another monster movie with a body count, avoid SPLICE and go see the new Freddy movie. But if you're looking for an unpredictable movie with killer creature effects, "envelope-pushing plot twists", and a deeply thought out psychomythological subtext, then SPLICE is the movie for you.
