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Evolution (PG)
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| Tookey's Rating |
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6
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| Average Rating |
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5.80
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| Starring |
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David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones
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| Full Cast > |
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Directed by:
Ivan Reitman
Written by:
David Diamond, David Weissman, Don Jakoby from Jakoby's story
David Diamond (VI) (screenplay) &
David Weissman (II) (screenplay) and
Don Jakoby (screenplay)
Don Jakoby (story)
David Diamond (VI) (screenplay) &
David Weissman (II) (screenplay) and
Don Jakoby (screenplay)
David Diamond, David Weissman, Don Jakoby from Jakoby's story
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| Released: |
2001 |
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| Genre: |
ACTION
ADVENTURE
SCIENCE FICTION
COMEDY
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| Origin: |
US |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
101 |
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The story? A meteor crashes into the Arizona desert, and a black geology professor at the local college (Orlando Jones, pictured) goes to examine it, accompanied by a white biologist friend (David Duchovny). Hammering away at the meteor, they discover blue gunk that evolves into primitive life-forms with astonishing speed. Jones's character is primarily interested in the financial implications of their discovery ("Is the Nobel Prize paid in instalments?"). Duchovny, spoofing his paranoid personality on The X-Files, is more concerned with keeping the authorities away, and relaunching his once high-flying career as a government scientist. Their entertainingly mean-spirited attempts to keep their discovery to themselves become impossible when the army arrives, along with a hostile government scientist (Julianne Moore), and the aliens mutate from slithery slugs into life-threatening monsters. |
Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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| One Summer blockbuster that was actually better than its own marketing campaign. Evolution is action-packed science fiction that delivers plenty of laughs. If you enjoyed Men in Black or Mars Attacks!, you'll have a rollicking good time watching this as well. It's not original - just one more movie about a black guy and a white guy fending off an alien invasion of earth. And director Ivan Reitman has stuck so closely to the template of his own biggest hit Ghostbusters that he might as well have called it Monsterbusters. But there are plenty of funny gags, and the special effects are colourful and spectacular. The vicious aliens eventually range from a frankly aggressive dinosaur terrorising a shopping mall to a tricky little chap who disrupts a ladies' coffee morning by coming out of the closet and trying to look ingratiating, like someone in search of the Tory leadership. Evolution is unashamedly a "boy's movie" in its frenetic plotting, appetite for male bonding and reluctance to indulge in deep characterisation. The romantic subplot between Duchovny and Julianne Moore is perfunctory, and mainly emphasises the extent to which both actors are classier than their material. But Duchovny has a nice deadpan wit, and Orlando Jones is a cut above the usual Eddie Murphy impersonator. The sexual innuendo, sexist attitudes and obsession with bottoms show the unwholesome extent to which gross-out comedy has invaded family films in Hollywood - and it's a pity, since otherwise this picture would be very suitable for children, especially small boys from about eight upwards. All the same, plenty of ingenuity has gone into the special effects, and these make up for the crudities in the script. Reitman is a good deal more intelligent and literate than he pretends - Dave, starring Kevin Kline as the US President, was one of his - and a lot of this movie's dumbness is cleverly calculated. Approach it in the right, Saturday night spirit, and Evolution delivers a lot of good, if not quite clean, fun. |
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