So gross, yet so cool

Rating: 7/10 (12 December 2010)

Revered as one of David Cronenberg's best science fiction films, The Fly is about eccentric scientist Seth Brundle who is attempting to create successful teleportation technology. After lots of perfection to his aptly named telepods, Brundle decides to teleport himself from one pod to the other. During the process a fly gets into the telepod with him and his DNA is fused with it. He slowly begins to transform into a horrible human/fly hybrid which he names Brundlefly. The transformation is horrific and grotesque, but the movie is overall pretty cool.
There isn't a whole lot going on with this film and there are only three main characters. The story is straightforward but still interesting to watch unfold. There are some side stories that seem kind of useless but they're never overbearing. Goldblum's transformation, physical and mental, is really neat to watch and the movie is definitely entertaining from start to finish. The majority of the sci fi films coming from the 70's and 80's were fairly simplistic but spawned a lot of science fiction themes for the future. The Fly definitely started out an interest in the grotesque human transformations we've seen in a lot of movies dealing with genetic manipulation, so in that respect The Fly is unforgettable. And it's not to say that there isn't enough going on in The Fly, because anymore and it would have been bloated and a lot of the focus of the film, which is solely on Brundle's transformation and how it is affecting the limited cast around him, would have been scattered. As far as storyline goes there isn't much I can complain about.
However, from a character standpoint I did have a couple issues with The Fly. Like I said before, the movie only has three characters. The rest of the cast, which is literally seven other people, are characters with no names or one or two speaking lines. Goldblum, Davis, and Getz aren't bad by any means, but I didn't feel like any of them had the force necessary to drive the film. They all seemed too weak and it made me feel like the film was lacking a dominant character. The film looks and feels very Hollywood, but it lacks the A-list stars to flesh out that feeling. The three leads I felt like belonged in supporting roles, when they were all three important leads. But after some getting use to, they carried the film to the end well enough.
Of course the film wouldn't have kept my interest nearly as well if not for the great makeup job done on Jeff Goldblum as he turned into the gruesome Brundlefly. His transformation is a disgustingly awesome feat in sci-fi creature design. It's probably the aspect of the film with the highest quality, which is fitting for a movie that is all about that particular aspect, even in its title. A warning to anyone with a weak stomach though, Brundlefly is one of the most grotesque and disgusting things I have ever seen in a movie. He is so horribly deformed and disgusting that I get a little queasy thinking about the final horrific scenes of the film. Everything this creature does is eyeopening disgusting and if I didn't find these kinds of grotesque effects awesome I would have probably hated this movie for being ridiculously gross and vomit inducing. But amidst all my twitching and wincing at how gross this film was, I really enjoyed it for taking such a disgusting risk.
The Fly is a lot of fun overall. It's got some kinks, but I can forgive them for the last thirty minutes of the film which are disgusting and yet jaw droppingly awesome. This movie is a worthwhile watch, especially if you're into some classic sci-fi.