Species: The Awakening

I didn't mind the original Species movie, I loved Gigers influence and it had a cast that enabled it to really stand out from other similar sci-fi movies at the time.

The second was passable affair and followed on nicely, but it already felt a bit like it was treading water.

The third starred the excellent Robert Knepper and though just about watchable really come across as a cash grab.

Alas with the fourth here the "Feel" of cash grab isn't a feeling anymore, it's very blatant. Straight to DVD nonsense with enough of a budget (Ish) to pull off the sfx but delivers very little else.

Starring veteran actor Ben Cross it's another erotic sci-fi outing that sadly brings little to the Species lore, delivers a rather underwhelming and rather rushed story and is decidedly average at its best.

Maybe Species should have stopped at the first movie, some films just don't need to become a franchise and this is a great example.

Should Species be rebooted? Absolutely not as the first movie delivered, want your Species fix go watch that.

The Good:

SFX are good for a straight to DVD sequel

The Bad:

"Alien" cutaways are a tad pointless

Brings nothing to the franchise

Feels rushed

Species: The Awakening feels like a shadow of what the franchise once promised. While the original Species had its share of flaws, it at least offered an intriguing mix of sci-fi and horror. This fourth installment, unfortunately, lacks the creativity and tension that made the first film memorable.

The plot tries to introduce a new angle with a professor discovering her alien origins, but it quickly devolves into a predictable series of events. The story struggles to sustain interest, and the characters are thinly developed, leaving little room for emotional investment.

The special effects and makeup work, while passable for a straight-to-DVD release, can't compensate for the weak script and uninspired direction. The horror elements feel forced, and the sci-fi aspect, which could have been fascinating, is barely explored.

While the film deserves some credit for attempting to expand the Species lore, it's clear that the franchise has run out of steam by this point. Even the action sequences, which could have added some excitement, feel half-hearted and unoriginal.

Unless you're a die-hard fan of the Species series, this entry offers little to recommend. It's a lackluster effort that fails to recapture the intrigue and excitement of its predecessors. A missed opportunity to close the series on a high note.

And so we reach the fourth, and final part of a series that never deserved a first sequel, let alone three of them. The slim storyline was told in its entirely in the first movie, and the next three have just been poorly thought-out remakes, redos or continuations of the same situations. This one follows straight-to-video B-movie territory from beginning to end, bringing everything down to its lowest common denominator. There's a misguided but decent scientist hero – Ben Cross, looking embarrassed to be here, a pretty young and nubile actress, Helena Mattsson, whose acting skills are extremely limited, some monster suits and some very bad CGI effects.

The storyline kind of meanders from place to place without ever progressing. There's some experimental stuff in a laboratory, more scenes of the alien women on the prowl searching for a mate, and other aliens besides who kill people with their long CGI tongues. The script is very poor and the performances poorer, and there's no decent action or gore to speak of. Just nudity, and even that gets boring after a while, so I really do hope this is the last we'll see of the Species films

Just saw the entire Species collection over two days, and i was very disappointed over the fourth in the line.

After watching the first 15 minutes i sat the player to double time, and i sure didn't regret it. This movie doesn't have anything to offer, beside nude chicks and brainless "horror". Compared to the three other species movies, this is fare worst. If you have seen the movie "From Dusk Till Dawn" you sure don't need to see this one.

Lets all hope the line will end here.

blah. blah.

blah.

MGM's Species franchise, like Wishmaster and The Crow, is a perfect example of the law of diminishing returns. Roger Donaldson's 1995 hit Species was a stylish, self-consciously trashy homage to B-movies. One that has had its scenario rehashed three times now.

One would expect a low-budget sequel to revel in sleaze and gore, but since 2004, when the concept was resurrected, 6 years after the cinema release of the disastrous Species 2 (1998), for the direct-to-DVD market, there has been a surprising resistance to the gratuitous ingredients of sex and violence. Species 3 paid little more than lip service to the desires of the target audience and the same is true here.

Deviating from the plot line established by the first three films, which featured Natasha Henstridge, The Awakening is a standalone feature that references and reimagines the ideas of the first film. It posits an alternative scenario; what if the scientist played by Sir Ben Kingsley in the original had not kept the young girl like a rat in cage? What if he'd raised her like his own?

This could have made for an intriguing exploration of nature versus nurture. Had Henstridge's Sil been allowed to develop in a more normal way could her dangerous, alien side have been suppressed? Alas there is little such depth to this cheap cash-in.

Kingsley's role is reinterpreted by fellow British thespian Ben Cross, while Swede Helena Mattsson (who looks a bit like Nicole Kidman) takes over where Henstridge and Sunny Mabrey left off. With only four key cast members and no sign of even Michael Madsen, The Awakening is the weakest of exploitation films. Only the audience is being exploited.

A studio like MGM isn't short of cash, so the explanation for the cheapness of this film is clear; they knew they can get away with it and turn an easy profit. Studios like The Asylum have their desperately limited resources to explain their crass and dissatisfactory efforts, but there's simply no excuse for a Species film to be as unspectacular as this.

Feeling more like a cross between a vampire movie and a retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein than a sexy sci-fi movie, Nick Lyon's film merely coasts on tenuous links to its predecessors. There are the HR Giger-inspired creature costumes and the promise of flesh is vaguely satisfied but there's not much effort or imagination. Were it not for a few gratuitous moments and aggressive curse words this could have been made for mainstream TV.

Lyons does well to pay homage to the original film and its subtext but seems to have forgotten how tongue-in-cheek it all was. Species 4 should have taken things to a cartoonish extreme. Instead what could have been knowingly amusing is just po-faced and embarrassing. From Dominic Keating's terrible Aussie accent to the fact that the alien hybrids use their tongues as weapons, at one point they shoot icicle-like spears from their mouths in bullet-time, the experience is one of contradiction.

The original Species really went for it. Utterly shameless titillation. The sequel went further, but in a misjudged, sleazy and misogynistic direction. Perhaps this is why the following two instalments have been so tame. The Awakening, as evidenced by its 15 rating, delivers the bare minimum that one could expect from a film with the Species title. Cautiously exploitative.

Like its heroine, The Awakening is in denial, trying its best not to give in to its primitive instincts. There's the potential for a wild ride in its concept and its plot, but Lyons takes it so seriously that the only laughs come unintentionally. This is a film in which a back alley scientist creates sex-crazed human/alien hybrids that run around Mexico! One of them dresses as demonic nun and leaps between rooftops, lassoing potential prey with its tongue; this is potentially hilarious stuff! But it's stripped bare, like its heroine in the final act, devoid of emotion. This is a film of wasted opportunities.