Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley Are Scientists Creating a ‘Splice’ of Life

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CHICAGO – The science of existence gets trickier everyday, and it doesn’t help when humans start creating their own competition. The new film “Splice,” featuring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley, explores the current trend of genetic research, while at the same time paging Dr. Frankenstein.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Adrian Brody is Clive and Sarah Polley is Elsa. They are hot scientists-as-rock-stars, having developed several new animal disease cures through their genetic splicing of different species. The results of the gene weaving are more protoplasmic than discernible animal, but the research yields a big cash outlay from a mega-pharmaceutical corporation, hoping to isolate protein strains that can translate to new drugs.

Elsa becomes restless with the random animal experiments and hopes to expand to the next frontier – the splicing of human genetic material with other species. Unknown to Clive, she uses the lab facilities to begin the process, using her own DNA material in the mixer. The manipulations are successful, and Clive discovers the secret experiment just as the new life comes into the world.

The “creature” that results from the lab is a mixture of the splice gene pool. Named Dren (nerd spelled backwards, ha), the sex is a girl, but the body characteristics are a combination of animal parts, including legs that are bird-like and a tail. Dren (portrayed by French actress Delphine Chanéac) also has accelerated growth, so Clive and Elsa hide her on a remote farm, and attempt to resume their normal activities.

As the Frankenstein-type myth unfolds, the creators don’t know the implications of what they’ve created. Dren develops too rapidly and begins to desire sexual reproduction, as well as developing a combination of strengths that could push back against the very humanity that propagated her.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Splice”

Don’t Mess with Mother Nature: Sarah Polley as Elsa and Adrien Brody as Clive in ‘Splice’ Photo credit: Steve Wilkie for © Warner Bros. Pictures

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Splice”