EVOLUTION

With David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Julianne Moore
(Mis)Directed by Ivan Reitman

To say that Ivan Reitman is "the director of Ghostbusters" may be a good hook, since this is pretty much more of the same - in the sense of more money to wreak more havoc as earthlings battle a take-over, this time by a fast evolving alien life-form, as opposed to the '80s hit's ghosts & spooks. The FX are extravagant in many cases but then, why does so much of the alien eco system look so damn plastic?. But, seeing as Evolution's target audience was probably not even born when Bill Murray & the gang kicked ghostly ass to Ray Parker Jr.'s hit tune, this lure is directed at those of us who loved it on its innitial global release - since not much will keep the current younger audience from heading out to go see it. If you still hadn't seen Ghostbusters, get yer ass down to the videostore! The alien invasion picks up momentum pretty quickly after a meteor hits earth, while an assembled cast is there to include as wide an audience demographic as possible (race, age, gender). Duchovny is his dry self and Moore tries to hit a new slapstick form she'd hardly ever done before. Jones is quite a laugh while Scott is in regular early 20s "loser" shape. They play for laughs as well as the gross out factor. The FX are cool, the jokes silly and the pace fair in what is pretty much a Men In Black out of control.
Butt, in the end, it seems as though the writers created a hole movie around the urge to poop out the world's biggest ass joke as a punchline. Evolution doesn't take itself too seriously and neither should we.

3 / C
- PB

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A - B - C

...And the 2nd Opinion...

EVOLUTION

With David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Julianne Moore
Directed by Ivan Reitman

I'm gonna keep this short and sweet because the memory is too painful... What a waste of celluloid! I'm sorry, usually there is SOME redeeming quality in a movie, in Evolution there is none. An alien meteor crashes near an Arizon suburb emitting a wierd goo that in fact is an alien primordial soup. From it springs all creatures weird and wonderful that evolve at an alarming rate until they become nasty and large enough to pose a serious threat. Duchovny is flat and flavorless. Orlando Jones has moments, but they're not good ones... Seann William Scott didn't learn his lesson from Dude, Where's My Car? and Julianne Moore's character has a quirky clumsiness that is just totally unjustified. Weird. The special CGI effects aren't so amazing anymore... The creatures are ho-hum... The gags are flat, predicatable and badly delivered... hence the acting from a for-all-intents-and-purposes "star" cast is as weak and incomplete as a Cadiz take-away coffee. Remember Bats? I think this is its match. But at least Bats tried to be a serious movie. Watch out for a scene where the three "heroes" head out along an Arizona highway in Duchovny's red Jeep en-route to another disaster-area singing "Play that Funky Music White Boy" for absolutely NO APPARENT REASON!!! (There is in fact a reason - it's called slapping-in-songs-to-make-more-cash-on-the-side-with-the-soundtrack-sales! - Ed.)
I'd also suggest walking out before it's all over, but for those of you who find delight in watching weak movies that are funny because they're bad, do stick around for the Head & Shoulders mock commercial right at the end. Ugh...
This movie scores high on the CRINGE-O-METER.

- Brett Reynolds (USA Flamedrop guy)

1 2 3 4 5 6
A - B - C