A tired, by-the-numbers sequel to a film which wasn't good enough to deserve a sequel in the first place. SPECIES II has a threadbare plot about aliens which has been recycled so many times that it's merely a continuation of the first film, offering up nothing new in the way of surprise or intrigue. Alien man mates with woman before turning into big scary alien creature. That's all there is to it.The actors aren't particularly bad but are served by an atrocious script which makes them all sound like idiots who are one step behind the events proceeding around them. Michael Madsen is his typical laconic self (as he is in all of the films he's been in) but is given virtually nothing to do but wave a gun around a bit. He just goes through the motions. The black lead is also on hand for comic value, and surprisingly he doesn't get killed at the end, which makes something of a change. Marg Helenberger is virtually unrecognisable and is also given little to do with her role. Natasha Henstridge, on the other hand, was never much of an actress in the first place and she only gets naked once, briefly, at the end, which is something of a let down for fans of the first film. Justin Lazar tries his hardest to look scary and scared in equal measures but he's nothing more than a bland, macho face picked more for looks than charm. I'm sure Peter Boyle turned up in a small role as a lunatic asylum patient but I could be wrong.So, all in all things are looking pretty bleak from this film but it does have two things to win it an audience. The first is the nudity. A number of actresses are willing to strip for the camera which seems almost as bad as the exploitation films of the '70s. The second factor is the special effects. The mission to Mars at the beginning has some great SFX, very similar to those in EVENT HORIZON. However, the gore and monsters are not so impressive. The gore is simply too computerised, as it was in WISHMASTER; it looks very fake and insubstantial. The monsters are all of the CGI-waving-tentacles variety and soon become tired and not very interesting. The only monster of interest is the big scary computer one at the end, which is pretty good, but it dies far too easily in what seems like a very rushed finale. And what was it about the ending in the ambulance which made no sense whatsoever? SPECIES II is run-of-the-mill stuff which passes the time but ends up ultimately disappointing every viewer, including fans of the original. As I expected really.

The species franchise started out on a fair note, and was dealt a mortal blow by this movie. Let's be honest, its always good to see Natasha H, but that is really about all that's good about the movie. There are more plot holes than swiss cheese, more non sense science to shake your head about. Most of us can suspend disbelief for a decent plot effort but this requires ratcheting that up to a new level. For instance when this movie was made the danger of blood borne pathogens was well understood, yet people blithely handle blood soaked "alien" blood soaked material as though they didn't care about becoming infected. In addition the characterizations were so wooden even a termite might have become interested in the "People." Do yourself a favor and spend your time doing something better with your life than waste it on this movie- walk the dog, take the trash out, scrub your tile or anything else.

God-awful sequel is so bad it makes the original classy and inspired by comparison. Sequel has astronauts being infected on Mars by the same alien DNA that caused all the trouble the first time, and when they return home, go on a murderous reproductive spree to take over the Earth. Again, this has some returning cast members, all of whom deserve better than this excessively violent, sleazy, foul-mouthed and feeble-minded film.Hard to believe this farrago was directed by Peter Medak, who made the exceptionally fine ghost story "The Changeling"(1980) None of that class, intelligence and subtlety is on display here. At one point, a character screams "This isn't the (censored) "The X-Files"! No kidding, though guest star Peter Boyle did appear in one of that series' best episodes, so would know better than anybody else the gulf of quality between them!

While nowhere as overly lovable as the original, and far less interesting than the succeeder, Species 2 is commonly regarded as the downfall of the series.I don't blame those who say that. It may just be me but the CGI looks worse. And the gore is piled on by the bucket load. Since the gore was one of the reasons the original got a cult following. Guess they thought "Hey, people like the blood. Lets add more this time..." The gore appears to be a desperation move in this flick. And speaking of desperation, we move to the...other....reason the original got a cult following. The soft core porn and, almost random, nudity. Taking that little ingrediant, and like gore, doubling it. Not to be funny, but watching the original on your own...when the nudity arrived...its hard to keep your friend down...this time it just over doses it a tad, almost making it feel awkward considering this is not meant to be a porn video. I'm giving it 7, which kind of sounds contradictory considering all I talked about was the bad things. But it is...at times...decent. And if you want "fan service" then this film is the mecca of them all. Just consider this is a little less action chick, a little more skin flick.