After the seriousness that was Prometheus, I need a little dumb fun to decompress after engaging in such a spectacle film. My review of the film is up and I decided to write something new instead of auto posting saved articles since I am in a bit of a transition period. I will cover that stuff in a separate post/apology. Anyways, keeping with the science fiction theme, I went back to 2001 and found a nice science fiction comedy gem directed Ivan Reitman (the Ghostbusters director of course). Evolution was a flash in the pan comedy that was hear and there in the theaters and on the home video market. I guess you really have to be a fan of the actors or director to have seen this. For me, I enjoy a farce of a comedy that puts a lot gags and humor into a science fiction. It doesn’t have to always be serious, as Evolution proves, it can be a parody if it wants to.
When a meteor bearing single-celled organisms crashes to the Earth, the life forms are initially confined to a cave. Before long the creatures are evolving at an exponentially rapid rate, resulting in fearsome aliens running amok and possibly spelling mankind’s doom, or at least the end of man’s domination over life on Earth. Investigating the phenomenon is a community college professor, Ira Kane (David Duchovny), his geologist friend Harry Block (Orlando Jones), wannabe fireman Wayne Green (Seann William Scott), and government scientist Allison Reed (Julianne Moore). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
Taking the vein of the National Lampoon genre, Evolution plays out like a broad comedy. It kind of has a little something for everyone, which is never a bad thing, but the jokes can get a little basic and short on the science schtick. While not a fully developed laboratory comedy, the film has an inherit silliness to it that makes it seem like more of a fun, dangerous time with an at home chem set. It silly, broad and genuinely likeable as far as a story about aliens and evolution can get.
I am honestly one of those people that love to see David Duchovny in a more comedic element. He has the right amount of rougish charm to carry a film and engage an audience, even when a scene doesn’t call for a smirk. He does it anyways and we love him for it. In this film, he gets to ham it up, play suave when he wants to and let that wit of his shine. It’s a funny, mild comedy and he does a great job at working with what is in the script. Julianne Moore also turns in a non-dramatic role, which is refreshing to see these type of actors stepping out of their type roles. Orlando Jones (not sure what he is doing now) and Sean William Scott bring in more of the situational, dumb, slapsticky comedy, but it honestly feels right in this movie.
Evolution is an easy movie to get behind. You don’t have to really think about anything as the substance and storyline is about as base as it can get. This isn’t the strongest comedy that Reitman has done, but I do find it more enjoyable than others. He wanted this to be like Ghostbusters, but it doesn’t out that way and hurts the movie a bit. If he just spent a bit more time writing something solid, we would have a much better picture. Instead, we get a nice summer comedy that is easy to digest and interesting to watch. The actors are great with the material they are given and the laughs come in small doses, but at the right intervals.
*images via RottenTomatoes
