See, the problem here is that this is going to be compared to Ghostbusters, and so isn't going to get a fair trial. Helmed by the same Director, Ivan Reitman; containing a core of three-plus-one heros, stock character types at best... Ivan, unlike the aliens you've created, you clearly haven't evolved that much since Stay Puft destroyed dowtown twenty years ago...
David Duchovny is Our Hero, disgraced scientist and buddy to acme black-guy-who-gurns and makes references to color (Orlando Jones.) Julianne Moore is the love interest. There's a nice cameo turn from Dan Aykroyd. And they have to save the world. Deja vu? Wait. Best of all, after an age of trying, it looks like CGI has finally found a way to blend itself into the background without looking like a Harryhausen effect. And therein lies the saving grace of the movie: The monsters.
The CGI is flawless. And I don't say that very often. The design of the beasts is fantastic, and they're executed in such a seamless fashion that it's hard to believe that the numerous slimy, scaly, usually toothsome creations weren't actually wreaking havoc on the set. Hats off, effects guys.
Unfortuneately, the plot is lacklustre and steals heavily from Reitman's 80's opus. I could have watched Coming To America. Or Beverly Hills Cop. Indeed, the whole feel is of an X-Files episode shoved in a blender with any given Eddie Murphy movie. Add Ghostbusters syrup, some crushed ice, and you've got an Evolution smoothie. Fellas, a groovy logo and some ass jokes do not a movie make. Even then, the ass jokes are derivative: It's almost as if the writers have seen American Pie and said 'I know! put a couple of gross-out rectum jokes in! That's what kids want!' But the effect, though funny, jars with the rest of the movie. Would you really want to see Venkman, Spengler and Stanz fight a ghost whose scary ability was to fart a lot? Thought not.
What we've got, then, is a film of many parts, stitched together into a pretty entertaining evening. Perfect video fodder, this'll probably do better for the home market, and that's where I'd recommend you watch it. It'll get buried by Tomb Raider anyway, so at the moment, treat it as what it is: mid-grade, summer filler.
Incidentally, there's definitely something unsettling about using Ted 'Put The Lotion In The Basket' Levine as an army general...
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Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Excellent review and an enjoyable read - I will probably wait for this to come to tv rather than pay money to watch it!! Although if it has a Mulder butt shot I might get it out on video(teehee). Your last comment reminded me of Silence of the Lambs (is that the film you quoted from?)Nicola
Based on the evidence inEvolution, one thing is perfectly clear: special effects have ... more
evolved, but director Ivan Reitman has reverted to primitive pandering. Equally obvious is the fact thatEvolutionis a defacto rip-off of Reitman's 1984 classicGhostbu...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The director of Ghostbusters takes you on an evolutionary roller coaster ride with big ... more
laughs and even bigger special effects in EVOLUTION. Starring David Duchovny (The X Files, Return To Me), Orlando Jones (Say It Isn't So, Bedazzled), Sean William Sc...
Glen Canyon Arizona the present day. The impact of a meteorite changes the life of ... more
biology teacher Dr. Ira Kane and geology teacher Harry Block from Glen Canyon Community College when he manages to take a sample. Soon he discovers a slimy blue fluid...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![Evolution [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78533647.jpg "Evolution [DVD] [2001]")
Jun 25th, 2001
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