Splice 2 film2/28/2023 ![]() ![]() After all, we want to identify with who we’re watching. The more elements you enlist to define them, the more likely you are to alienate your audience. There’s something to be said for keeping your characters simple. It’s not that Sci-fi and Greek tragedy are mutually exclusive, but they don’t mingle very amicably and it takes a more talented hand to meld them than writer/director Vincenzo Natali seems to possess. While this is all well and good, and even potentially interesting, it’s confused by the hardcore Science Fiction of the story. There’s a constant fluctuation between the trio, and it’s undoubtedly modeled after any number of tragic fables, even employing Freud’s Electra complex somewhat effectively. ![]() It’s much more a relationship thriller, with a loving couple whose trust is slowly seeping away and test tube child they can never fully understand. Splice, from everything I had seen was going to be a monster movie, which isn’t entirely accurate. It might have helped to know this from the beginning, though that’s more a marketing mistake than anything. Around the half way point it becomes clear that this story is set up as some kind of Greek tragedy. The baby girl, at first monstrous and eerie, begins to grow into something more recognizably human and Elsa, against her better judgment and the pleadings of Clive, takes on the role of mother, and names the infant creature Dren ( Delphine Chanc). When they secretly follow through with the illegal procedure, and give figurative birth to an entirely new creature, their story begins in earnest. But it does, and that inconsistency, coupled with the assumption that I probably wouldn’t like the filmmakers all that much, means an unstable experience that’s more down then up.Įlsa ( Sarah Polley) and Clive ( Adrian Brody) are rebellious geneticists, hell bent on being the first to splice together human and animal DNA. Trying to gauge what’s intended and what isn’t can be taxing to say the least, which shouldn’t necessarily guide judgment. On the other, it’s lousy with unlikeable characters, maddening choices and awkward exchanges. ![]() On one hand, Spliceis intentionally brimming with disconcerting genetic science, it’s hazy morality and ghastly creatures tantalizing. The thing is though, I’m not sure how much of my discomfort was intended by the filmmakers, and how much was just a product of poor decision making. Mostly I felt uncomfortable during Splice. I wrung my hands a lot and rubbed my eyes the kind of anxious fiddling that should spell trouble for a film. ![]()
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