EVOLUTION (2001) / * 1/2
Directed by Ivan Reitman. Screenplay by David Diamond, David Weissman and Don Jakoby, based on a story by Jakoby. Starring David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Julianne Moore. Running time: 104 minutes. Rated PG for frightening scenes by the MFCB. Reviewed on August 27th, 2001.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: When a meteorite crashlands in the Arizona desert, community college professors Ira Kane (Duchovny) and Harry Block (Jones) are first on the scene. They discover that an alien lifeform has arisen from the rock and is evolving at an amazing rate. Soon the army, advised by Dr Allison Reed (Moore), moves in and forces Kane and Block out. But when the aliens begin to menace society, it may take the scientists' combined efforts to stop them before they terminate the evolution of another lifeform: humanity.
Review: "Evolution" certainly has the ingredients for a decent comedy. It's directed by Reitman, clearly trying to parlay his "Ghostbusters" success into a twenty-first-century counterpart. It stars Duchovny, and although one might question his judgment in lampooning his "X-Files" character so soon after leaving the TV series, it should certainly provide him with plenty of ammunition. And then there's Moore, who may not have much prior experience in comedy, but who has certainly proven her ability as an actress. A shame, then, that it all deteriorates into such a hopelessly unfunny morass. "Evolution" is a movie more concerned with its special effects (which are quite good) than anything resembling a consistently funny script. It has its moments (a scene in which Jones' body is invaded by an alien is particularly entertaining), but there are embarrassingly long stretches that are utterly devoid of humour. Moore is totally wasted, her clumsy shtick getting very old, very fast. Duchovny has stunningly little in the way of material to work with. And the story is so formulaic, it could have been written by monkeys. Part of what made "Ghostbusters" so wonderful was a combination of a great script and characters the audience could root for. "Evolution" is so mind-numbingly tedious that it's difficult not to start cheering for the aliens.
Copyright © 2001 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html
| Shannon Patrick Sullivan | shannon@mun.ca | +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+ / Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) go.to/drwho-history \ \__ We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars __/
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