SPECIES

The alien goes after a pitiful victim

SPECIES (1995). Director: Roger Donaldson.

It appears that an intelligent alien species has been found and has been combined with human DNA, resulting in a hybrid that looks like a sweet young lady but is actually a very dangerous animal. Apparently scientists never realized that they were sent the alien DNA as part of the vanguard of an invasion force. The scientists, who have kept the "girl" -- Sil -- imprisoned in a sterile room-like cage for several years, decide to kill her, but she manages to break out. She metamorphoses into a beautiful adult female, then repeatedly tries to mate with -- but usually kills -- adult males and others who get in her way, such as one poor bar patron who has her spine pulled out in a ladies room. A team headed by Xavier Fitch (Ben Kingsley) and which includes black ops agent Preston Lennox (Michael Madsen of Kill Me Again), Dr. Parker (Marg Helgenberger of Mr. Brooks), and Dr. Arden (Alfred Molina), go out to try and find and trap Sil (Natasha Henstridge). In her mutated form Sil appears to be some kind of biomechanical creature a la Alien, which is not surprising as she was also designed by H. R. Giger. Species is fast-paced and entertaining, but it is also illogical and kind of schlocky, with few humanistic touches and acting that is okay but nothing more. One may be surprised by the  presence of Kingsley [A Sound of Thunder] and Molina [The Lodger] in this picture, but they can do little to improve it. Followed by several sequels. Roger Donaldson also directed The Bounty.

Verdict: Fun enough in a limited way, but nothing really special. **1/2.  

A SOUND OF THUNDER

T-Rex and time travelers

A SOUND OF THUNDER (2005). Director: Peter Hyams. Loosely based on a short story by Ray Bradbury.

In  the future Travis Ryer (Edward Burns) works for an outfit that sends wealthy clients back in time to hunt dinosaurs, the animals' slayings timed to occur just before they would have died anyway. This is done to prevent anything screwing with the time stream and affecting the future. Travis meets a lady scientist, Sonia Rand (Catherine McCormack), who claims she not only helped create the time machine and was shut out of enjoying its success, but that Ryer and his associates are endangering the world with their time jumps, on one of which something comes back from the past. This happens because boss Charles Hatton (Sir Ben Kingsley) wants to save money by turning off the energy-using screen that would prevent this. Because of this anomaly, the world is affected by time waves that create new "prehistoric" animals and even begin affecting the human race itself. Can Travis and Sonia manage to set things right in a world beset with dangerous monsters, hysterical humans, and weird sweeping changes to the landscape and everyone else at all the wrong moments ...? A Sound of Thunder has a great idea and is entertaining for the most part, and some scenes are rather well-done (a struggle with a hungry underwater creature, for instance) but there's just something off about the movie. By no means as bad as, say, a Syfy Channel Original, there's still something second-rate about the entire enterprise. Edward Burns, who often makes and stars in smaller personal films, seems uncomfortable in the role of action hero, although Kingsley is more on the mark as slimy Hatton [although you still have to wonder what he's doing in this movie]. McCormack and the other cast members are all professional and then some. The effects are uneven, although there are a host of good-looking futuristic baboon-dinosaurs, and most of the other monsters are at least well-designed. Ultimately the movie isn't terrible, just unconvincing. Hyams has directed better movies, such as Outland and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, and Kingsley has appeared in worse movies, such as Thunderbirds.

Verdict: Interesting disappointment. **1/2.

IRON MAN 3

IRON MAN 3 (2013). Director: Shane Black.

Anthony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), whom the world knows is the hero Iron Man, issues a challenge to a terrorist known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) and shortly after Stark's cliffside house is demolished by missiles. Another threat is posed by one Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who has developed Extremis technology that gives human beings explosive and fiery super-powers that can easily get out of control. Are Killian and the Mandarin working together? The Mandarin in this movie is nothing like the character in the comics, but the business with Extremis was taken from relatively recent Iron Man stories. Iron Man 3 is entertaining [although non-comics fans may wonder what the hell is going on] and generally fast-paced, although it can be awfully talky at times. The action scenes are pretty well-orchestrated, and the two best scenes detail the attack on Stark's house and a knock-out sequence when Iron Man rescues eleven people who have been sucked out of an airplane [surely some of them would have died from terror?]. The climax has Iron Man and Iron Patriot (Don Cheadle) -- formerly known as War Machine -- rescuing the president and having a knock-down drag-out with a super-charged Killian. Iron Man 3 has a little too much humor and comes dangerously close to camp at times. Downey gets across the movie Stark's flippancy, but not much else. Guy Pearce steals the picture as Killian, easily giving the most impressive and intense performance. Don Cheadle is miscast, but Gwyneth Paltrow is fine as Stark's girlfriend and associate Pepper, and there are notable turns by Rebecca Hall as Myra Hansen, James Badge Dale as Savin [both associates of Killian's], and Ty Simpkins as little Harley, who helps Tony midway through the picture. Ben Kingsley is also good as the movie's rather weird reinterpretation of Iron Man's arch-enemy, the Mandarin. To read more about the comic book adventures of Iron Man, see The Silver Age of Comics.

Verdict: Iron Man fans may scratch their heads but otherwise enjoy this. ***.

THUNDERBIRDS

THUNDERBIRDS (2004). Director: Jonathan Frakes.

The Tracy family, headed by widower Jeff (Bill Paxton, pictured), form an outfit called International Rescue, and are idolized the world over as first-class, fearless heroes. The youngest of Jeff's sons, Alan (Brady Corbet), is itching to get into action as one of the Thunderbirds. He gets more than he bargained for when the group goes up against a villainous fellow known as The Hood (a completely and criminally wasted Ben Kingsley). If you're going to make a fairly big-budget, big-screen, live-action remake of a marionette kiddie show from the sixties -- and hope it turns into a popular franchise -- you better make sure it's a film for "kids" of all ages, which Thunderbirds definitely isn't. Focusing on the youngest characters, it seems geared for toddlers, who will probably be bored. The scientist "Brains" (Anthony Edwards) and his young, genius son both stutter. The Hood has a female associate played by an actress who's forced to wear huge gopher teeth. Lady Penelope (Sophia Myles) and her chauffeur Parker (Ron Cook) are also on hand. The biggest problem with this busy but silly movie is that the action scenes are not handled with any particular cinematic panache. This is almost as bad as Thunderbirds Are Go, a feature-length version of the puppet show.

Verdict: Thunderbirds are not go. **.

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (1994). Director: Roman Polanski.

In a country that is probably meant to be Chile, a chance encounter leads a doctor (Ben Kingsley) who possibly tormented and raped a political prisoner (Sigourney Weaver) years ago to her door on the very eve of her husband (Stuart Wilson) being appointed to a commission to track down those guilty of such abuses. Unfortunately, the commission only plans to target people who actually killed their victims, so Weaver is afraid her own tormentor will never be brought to justice. To her husband's consternation, she captures Kingsley and puts him on “trial.” But could Kingsley possibly be innocent as he says? Although this is clearly based on a three-character stage play, Polanski “opens” it up as much as possible, and there are moments of suspense and tension. Unfortunately, much of the picture rests on the shoulders of heroine Weaver, who is simply not up to the challenge. Weaver can be quite effective when she's all “butch” and no-nonsense in those Alien horror films [she was probably cast in this because of the scenes wherein she has to play all tough and menacing] but in more serious movies her limitations are all too obvious. While she does have her moments, to be fair, she is nowhere on the level of the masterful Kingsley, and neither is Wilson. Still, the story is powerful and the ending – in its own quiet way – horrific. This is another illustration of the “banality of evil” and the loathsomeness that can hide behind the surface of the so-called kind and loving family man.

Verdict: Paging a more powerful actress! **1/2.