The Film
Remember Adrien Brody? You know, the guy who won an Oscar? Apparently, making out with Halle Berry for all of the world to see isn't such a wise career move. It gets you booked into movies like Splice.
Splice puts good actors into a laughable movie that's straight out of the sci-fi thriller handbook. If movies have taught us anything, it's that you shouldn't mess with Mother Nature, right? So, writer/director Vincenzo Natali grabs that bull by the horns and gets pretty creepy results. When does this formula produce anything else?
Clive and Elsa (Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) are uber-genius scientists who decide to play God and mix an animal with a human. The end result is a creepy character that allows Elsa to kick out her maternal jams. She even names the creature Dren. Clive, on the other hand, wants to kill it. When he doesn't get his way on that, he decides to have sex with it. No -- really.
That's just one of the many bizarre things about Splice. We're certainly all for creepy, but the film really wastes its leads on a laughable plot with an incredibly predictable ending. Have fun with that.
Need to splice up the movie a little more? Check out David Kempler's review of the theatrical release of Splice.
The Picture
Sci-fi fans will certainly geek out on Splice's imagery. Thanks to an omnipresent blue twinge, this film really oozes a sci-fi feel. That blue is nice, but also dulls down the overall look of the film. It's very sterile, like most of the film's environment. That said, we can't fault this 1.85:1 transfer; it certainly delivers what the director was going for. Unfortunately, it leaves the viewer with nothing that special, unless you like white coats and Hazmat suits. Even after Dren is moved to nicer accommodations, that area appears a bit drab. However, this transfer certainly knows how to work those black levels. They are extremely deep and help out with the detail, which is decent (and often creepy) during close-up shots.
The Sound
For a horror flick, Splice is pretty lifeless for most of the film's 104-minute runtime. The soundtrack provides a few noises for the surrounds, as well as some heebie jeebies. Otherwise, the DTS-HD Master Audio track spends most of the movie working on dialogue, which does sound very nice. During the film's climax, however, the track picks up a bit. That is when Dren truly gets her freak on, as does this track, providing plenty of atmospheric noises to drag you into the film's final act.
The Extras
Splice didn't take the box office by storm, but it's still a little surprising that the "Director's Playground" is this release's only special feature. Most of that short's 35 minutes comprises clips of the filming process, without any narration. There are a few interviews sprinked here and there, but it's a weird collection and even weirder as the release's lone extra.
Ths release also includes BD-Live access, but don't expect any other Splice-related goodies there. Instead, it's just a bunch of previews for other Warner titles.
Final Thoughts
Despite a decent Blu-ray transfer, it's hard to come up with a lot of good things to say about Splice. The bottom line is that two talented leads are completely wasted in this mess of a movie that you've probably seen a hundred times before. Of course, we don't expect every movie to be 100 percent original. However, Splice is just too derivative (and too stupid) to recommend.
Product Details
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