Surprisingly Evolution turned out to be a very entertaining flick. David Duchovny was terrific as the low-key Ira Kane and was just dripping with sarcasm. It may just be me, but it seems that Duchovny is the most laid back actor in Hollywood today. I was pleasantly surprised to finally see Orlando Jones in a movie that allowed him to show his talents. It seems like he has always played some bumbling idiot created to amuse the audience and nothing more. His character has the best line in the entire film "THERE'S ALWAYS TIME FOR LUBRICANT!" and was a great complement to Duchovny's flatness. Jones' tradition role of idiot is reserved for Seann Willim Scott in this movie. Sure he was funny, but if he doesn't start picking some better roles he is going to find himself in typecast hell, something not many actors are able to grow out of.
Of course there has to be a woman in the cast, and that woman was none other than Julianne Moore. It seems that she decided to slum it and come down from her artsy, coffee shop type movies, and plays a clutzy CDC scientist in Evolution. I don't know what it is about Ivan Reitman, but he seems to be able to bring some extremely credible actresses to his not so credible comedies. If he had not been able to charm Moore into being Duchovny's love interest Evolution may not have evolved into the fun summer movie that it was. Heck, if it wasn't for Julianne Moore I never would have realized how hot a woman could look in a fireman's uniform.
Overall the cast was terrific and did an excellent job with what they were given, which was basically the recycled script from Ghostbusters. Reitman does not stray too far from what has worked for him in the past, fortunately it works for him once again. The similarities between the Ghostbuster movies and Evolution was at times downright eerie. The scene where they shoot down a flying alien is reminiscent of when they did the same thing in Ghostbusters, only now they have pump action shotguns instead of protopack blasters. You'd think that after having seen Ghostbusters Evolution would come across as a predictable and boring copy, but the banter between the characters really saves the film from mediocrity.
One last thing... if you are considering seeing Jurassic Park III this summer and have already seen Evolution, don't bother to go to the theater. How many more CGI monsters can we take! The special effects in Evolution are first rate and it's going to very difficult for Jurassic Park III to do something new and creative, like the special effects artists have done here. The aliens were, for the most part, like nothing we have ever seen before. This is a welcome relief in today's world of recycled special effects. These effects, along with the humor turned what could have been another recycled monster movie into a fun popcorn flick that most people will enjoy.
6/10
Of course there has to be a woman in the cast, and that woman was none other than Julianne Moore. It seems that she decided to slum it and come down from her artsy, coffee shop type movies, and plays a clutzy CDC scientist in Evolution. I don't know what it is about Ivan Reitman, but he seems to be able to bring some extremely credible actresses to his not so credible comedies. If he had not been able to charm Moore into being Duchovny's love interest Evolution may not have evolved into the fun summer movie that it was. Heck, if it wasn't for Julianne Moore I never would have realized how hot a woman could look in a fireman's uniform.
Overall the cast was terrific and did an excellent job with what they were given, which was basically the recycled script from Ghostbusters. Reitman does not stray too far from what has worked for him in the past, fortunately it works for him once again. The similarities between the Ghostbuster movies and Evolution was at times downright eerie. The scene where they shoot down a flying alien is reminiscent of when they did the same thing in Ghostbusters, only now they have pump action shotguns instead of protopack blasters. You'd think that after having seen Ghostbusters Evolution would come across as a predictable and boring copy, but the banter between the characters really saves the film from mediocrity.
One last thing... if you are considering seeing Jurassic Park III this summer and have already seen Evolution, don't bother to go to the theater. How many more CGI monsters can we take! The special effects in Evolution are first rate and it's going to very difficult for Jurassic Park III to do something new and creative, like the special effects artists have done here. The aliens were, for the most part, like nothing we have ever seen before. This is a welcome relief in today's world of recycled special effects. These effects, along with the humor turned what could have been another recycled monster movie into a fun popcorn flick that most people will enjoy.
6/10