Species

Strange to see director Roger Donaldson venture off into the sci-fi genre considering he usually sticks to straight dramas. Still, SPECIES is a fun little romp and I do mean romp! With Natasha Henstridge, in her screen debut, portraying an alien -human hybrid in search of a mate this film givers her a perfect vehicle to show off her ample talents. A now considerable all-star cast has Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina and Forrest Whitaker on the hunt for Natasha and though some may find they take themselves far to seriously I felt the effect worked quite well. Marg Helgenberger does a great job here in a role not unlike hers on CSI and I often wonder if the film wasnt responsible for her getting that gig. Speaking of gig, H.R. Giger provides the creature design here which only adds to the feelings at times that your are watching a bad ALIEN rip-off. Rip-off or not, it's a fun ride to be enjoyed by all into the genre and be sure to look for Jellybean Benitez of Madonna fame in a DJ cameo.