Splice

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Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are two brilliant young scientists who defy ethical and legal boundaries to splice human DNA with that of an animal - creating beautiful, but dangerous humanoid hybrid, Dren. Before they can stop themselves, they become attached to her, and a strange family dynamic grows between the three. But they grow up fast, with Dren aging at an alarming rate; and the older she is getting, the more dangerous she becomes.

A strange film that works when concentrating on the science and more fantastical elements of its setup, Splice fails when trying to make its characters in anyway believable. Two very fine actors, who lend instant credibility by simply appearing in this production, Polley's damaged other half starts displaying unhinged elements either far too late, or far too early depending on what way you look at it. Brody follows her either because she's more brilliant than him, or because she has boobs. Neither is made clear. Supporting characters are introduced merely to be in peril, or grate the protagonists, and when proceedings take a turn for the extremely strange towards the end, there's no going back - unless you look at the whole thing as a comedy when doing so.

Helmer Natali does have some panache, and shows a lot of skill in the opening half, building a tense atmosphere with some well rendered, and innovative effects. His casting too is spot on, with both his leads being an instantly buyable couple - they're just really stupid for people so smart, and that's where this otherwise nicely handled flick will fall down for a lot of folk. Making people who profess to be intelligent make such mind-numbingly thick decisions is a character trait that generally makes people wish for the demise of said character.

A noble, if intrinsically flawed effort, that has the smarts to succeed on the surface, but just lacks the character impact to render the whole thing worthwhile