Splice

In a week where the two biggest releases are remakes of movies from the 80's, Splice is a breath of fresh air.It also makes me realize how few good sci-fi movies have come out recently. This is a solid sci-fi piece with interesting subject matter and an unpredictable plot. There is quite a bit of character development too, but some of it seems to come completely out of left field almost to the point of drastically changing personality.

Splice is the story of Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley), two scientists who are experimenting with DNA splicing. After developing a protein, their investors tell them that they will be switching their focus to this protein and away from splicing. In a misguided effort to advance their study, they splice human DNA with animal DNA to make a new organism.

 As is the case with most scientific stories, a bit of realism is sacrificed in order to keep the entire audience up to speed on what's going on. One slightly laughable moment was when unsuccessful attempts at splicing were literally met with an error window on the computer...

I have enjoyed most of Adrien Brody's work, and again have no problem with him here. Nor did I have any problem with Sarah Polley's acting. The biggest flaw in the characters was the way they were written. At the beginning of the movie, both Clive and Elsa seem to be perfectly normal human beings, but as the story progresses, they make worse and worse decisions, casually breaking down and developing severe mental issues along the way. Some of these problems were necessary to move the plot in the direction they chose, but it would have been more believable had these issues existed from the beginning.

The movie builds suspense well and more than a few times I was anxiously leaning forward in anticipation of the coming event. The story moves along at a decent pace, and stays rooted in reality well enough to keep you interested. It also very subtly hints at the moral dilemma of playing God in the world of DNA and cloning. It's never forced upon the viewer which is a positive, but I do believe everyone will at some point decide how they feel about the possibilities the film presents. In a world where our knowledge and power are constantly expanding, it is not a stretch to imagine a situation like this could occur someday. I believe this part of the story is the strongest aspect of the movie.

Then something happened. The filmmakers decided they were done with their fairly realistic sci-fi drama and that the resolution needed to be amped up from the rest of the story. The film lost me at this point and I was disappointed with where it went, but it still didn't ruin the whole experience for me.

There's not much more to say without spoiling pieces of the story, suffice it to say that this is a solid movie that is better than most of what Hollywood is churning out these days. Sadly it's cheapened a bit by an unexpected genre change, but that would not keep me from recommending it for any sci-fi fans or people looking for an original story.