As I finished watching Vincenzo Natali’s Splice, the only overwhelming thought in my mind was, ‘Why?’.
As in, ‘Why would Guillermo del Toro back this film?’. del Toro is the ONLY reason I even saw this film.
Um, sorry, there was another thought too. That this film was almost entirely conceived only because much of the prosthetics del Toro used in the absolutely brilliant El laberinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth), for the ‘Faun’ character, was lying unused and the damn production house had paid big money for it…for just one film!
Yes, that does sound like a scathing comment on Splice, but for a film that stars Adrien Brody and is backed by del Toro, this is such a shockingly predictable film.
Agreed – it is not a straight sci-fi or a horror film, but the way the film progresses through Brody and Sarah’s failed scientific projects, the freak, sneaky success in splicing the human DNA with other assorted animals and the eventual denouement…all happen with clockwork precision – just like you think they would!
That is indeed a shame since the premise is indeed interesting and that creature does look kinda cute. Not cute enough to end up doing what Adrien Brody does with it, however. That…is one of the most horrendously disturbing scenes I’ve seen in films…and I have seen a lot of outrageous crap, trust me.
The ending is a plain joke, to put it as bluntly as possible.
My personal favorite scene was the one in which Dren (the creature) tries to escape gleefully and reaches that odd barn’s roof. Brody and Sarah reach out to her (!?) as she is almost falling off the roof. What happens in the next minute is the single most brilliant scene in the film. It’s a pity the film doesn’t capitalize more on such innovative scenes all through and instead decides to stick to a very familiar layout.
The question again – Why did Guillermo del Toro back this film?
Poster courtesy: Cinemablend
