Species II (1998)

Director: Peter Medak
Starring: Natasha Henstridge, Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger

Synopsis:
An astronaut returning from a mission to Mars is infected with alien DNA and the only way to find and stop him is a clone of the human-alien hybrid Sil.

Impressions:
Because it worked out so well for everyone the first time, why not make another alien hybrid? It does get lampshaded in-universe as a fairly dumb idea and your mileage may vary if the justification washes in the end. This isn't as good as the first movie, but there are some interesting elements and it's a logical continuation of the story. I disagree with how fast they made the lifecycle compared to what was established in the original. You could say it has something to do with the Martian strain of the alien genome, but I think they just wanted to up the timetable to give a greater sense of urgency. I thought Justin Lazard was pretty good as Patrick Ross and his conflict was compelling until the alien side took over. George Dzundza isn't at all plausible as a Marine colonel, but I suppose you can get a chuckle out of it. All told, this is inferior to the original but if you actually liked the first movie, there's enough here to make it worth seeing. If, however, you weren't too impressed by the first go, this one isn't going to change your mind.

Rating:
50/50