Splice Review
By David Kempler
A Splice of Life
One of the most solid threads throughout the history of the sci-fi genre is the story of humans messing with nature only to have it backfire in their faces. It was probably at its zenith in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when the world was held tightly in the grip of fear of aliens, tied in with the fear of nuclear conflagration. To name just a few, we had "The Thing", "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" and "The Fly". They all warned us of the perils of screwing around with Mother Nature.
Vincenzo Natali has written and directed "Splice", a present-day version of scientists venturing into places that may not be in everyone's best interests. Genetic engineer geniuses Clive (Adrien Brody) and his partner/lover, Elsa (Sarah Polley), specialize in splicing DNA from different animals in the hopes of producing a new life form. They do this while under the employ of a very large and prestigious corporation. The company is looking to cash in on their talents.
Their first creation looks like a giant caterpillar. No big deal. Who doesn't like a giant caterpillar? It's the next time, when they dip further into the well and mix a human with an animal, that things turn a tad haywire. The result looks like undercooked brisket. Like all stupid scientists in these kinds of films, they see no reason to kill the abomination. Rather they will learn from it and the world will be a better place for it. Sure it will.
They name their creature, Dren. Dren makes sounds identical to Cousin It of the Addams Family. Isn't it adorable? You already have an idea of what transpires after the initial cutesy-wutesy stage of Dren's life.
There is nothing wrong with the premise of "Splice". It's fertile ground for quality filmmaking. Unfortunately, it is also fertile ground for producing laughable garbage. It's tough to pull off these kinds of stories and Natali doesn't even come close to making it believable. Instead, the film is a bigger abomination than the creature.
