Evolution (Wide Screen) > Reviews > Watch This Film

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	high - action and funny
Disadvantages:	some poor special effects

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I didn’t even want to watch this film! I had seen a trailer and thought it looked like a bad X-files reincarnation with David Duchovny playing the lead role. However my little sister persuaded me to go with her and I was actually pleasantly surprised!

The release date of June 8th, 2001 marked the 17th anniversary of the release of Ghostbusters. This seems more than a coincidence with Director Ivan Reitman having made his fortune and fame with the film Ghostbusters. Consequently the two films have received a fair few comparisons. Indeed there are some similarities with the quirky comedian-investigators, an awkward love interest and a huge blob that needs to be destroyed at the end, but having said that Evolution is in fact much better!

The film is set in a fictional Arizona town called Glen Canyon and opens with a meteor crashing towards earth. Trainee fireman Wayne Green (Seann William Scott) predictably has to race away from his car as the meteor chooses the only part of the vacant desert ground where there is anything it could possibly destroy to head towards! The former Mulder of "The X-Files" (Duchovny) plays Ira Kane, a burned-out community college biology professor who, along with his geology professor friend Harry Block (Orlando Jones), are the first to stumble upon the mysterious meteor.

The excited scientists discover living organisms on the meteor rock. However not only do these organisms begin to multiply but they also start to evolve at an alarming rate. They evolve from single-celled organisms, to worms, to fish, amphibians, reptiles and so on, in just a few days. Incredulously it takes them just these few days to achieve what it took mankind 250 million years to do. Ira and Harry realize what a huge discovery an alien life form is and they begin to wonder "Is the Nobel Prize paid in installments," "or in a lump sum like the lottery?". Then word of their discovery gets out and a government team of scientists take over. This team is led by a military general (Ted Levine) who carries a personal grudge against Ira and consequently bans Ira and Harry from the site. Sticking to cinematic tradition, the military messes everything up and soon pterodactyls are terrorizing people in local shopping malls!

It is then left for Ira and Harry to get back in the loop and prevent the human race from becoming a victim of natural selection. Together with klutzy government scientist Allison Reed (Julianne Moore) and the trainee fireman they devise a clever plot to try and save the day from the rapidly advancing alien civilization!

The film's special effects are somewhat hit and miss. Some PDI computer effect-generated monsters like the dinosaurs are visually astounding, while others are as corny and fake-looking as the creatures from "The Mummy Returns"! However much more importantly the truth is now out there about Duchovny's skills as a comic! This film could be the perfect bridge for Duchovny to leap from science fiction to comedy. One minute Ira is pontificating over the process of mitosis, and the next he has the audience in stitches with a well-timed quip. Both Jones and Scott also boast some terrific one-liner jokes and deliver a most energetic performance!

All in all the film is entertaining and fast-moving! Indeed the film's 103 minutes seem to move as quickly as its alien creatures evolve! There are several different styles of humour, to suit all ages and I would definitely recommend the film!