Evolution
Directed by: Ivan Reitman
Written by: Don Jakoby, David Diamond
Starring: David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Julianne Moore, Seann William Scott

As an aware moviegoer, I’m usually pretty indifferent to all of the clever marketing campaignsthat films are subject to. Trailers and advertisements are rarely reliable in theirportrayal of a movie’s style, so I typically disregard them. If a movie looks good, it couldend up being complete trash, and if a movie sounds bad, it could actually be worthwhile.But I must admit, right off the bat I had doubts about any movie that used a mutant 3-eye happy face symbolin all of its advertisements. Yes, my first reactions to the movie Evolutionwere not overly enthusiastic.

Still, it had David Duchovny in it, and that was probably the only thing that actually caughtmy attention about the film. But then I began to think, what if poor David Duchovny, obviouslyeager to secure his career beyond The X-Files and avoid being eternally typecast as Fox Mulder,had unwittingly jumped into the first film role that was made available to him? What kind ofmess could he have possibly gotten himself into?

Luckily, there was one more element to this movie that could potentially save it.It was directed by Ivan Reitman, who of course, is the same man who helmed the classicGhostbusters movies (not to mention the timeless Kindergarten Cop).

By the time I actually got around to seeing Evolution, the Ghostbusters reference has beendropped so often, I was sick of hearing it.As I watched, it was hard not to notice the many similarities between the films, andit was also hard not to hold this movie up against very high standards.

Okay, so let’s briefly talk about the plot to this movie. A meteor lands on Earth, bringing withit a blue slime that turns out to contain alien life. The alien cells start to multiply and”evolve” at a super fast rate, and suddenly become a major threat to the entire planet.

Yawn. Yes, this plot is as run-of-the-mill as it sounds. The real problem is that it isn’tclear at exactly what point the aliens stop being a mere scientific curiosity, andstart being a hostile threat to the Earth’s populace.By the time the “good guys” start hunting down the aliens, you almost feel sorryfor the poor creatures.

Anyone who was hoping for an interesting cross between horror and humour, Ghostbusters style,will be sorely disappointed.I read somewhere that the original script for this movie was actually a dark sci-fi thriller,and then somewhere along the line, they brought in Reitman to weave his comedic “magic”.There are a couple moments that may make you jump, but ultimately the thriller elementsof this film have been all but glossed over. Really, Evolution isnothing more than a goofy comedy. As such, I felt myself anxiously awaiting the next chance to laugh,and didn’t really care about much else.

The laughs did come, but not quite as often as I had hoped they would.Evolution relies heavily on one-liners, and in this it is often hit or miss.A scene comes across as memorable and funny if the one-liners are witty, or it will comeacross as a dud if they are not.Often times I found myself wondering just how many of the one-liners may had been improvisedon the spot.

Much of the humour also comes from the actors themselves, and how they deliverthe lines.David Duchovny is the perfect actor to take on a Bill Murray-esque sarcastic role, andI enjoyed his performance, but there were times when he was just a little too wooden.His pairing with Orlando Jones felt forced and unnatural.Seann William Scott, who most people will remember from American Pie,is perfectly suited to take on a Rick Moranis-esque supporting role.Well, okay, maybe Moranis isn’t the best comparison, but he was goofy and brought aboutsome of the funniest parts of the movie. He just has to work on spelling his name.There is also short appearance from Dan Aykroyd that was good for a laugh, andof course, another nod to Ghostbusters.

Special effects have come a long way since the release of Ghostbusters, and you wouldexpect Evolution to have a leg up in this department. The problem is, they decided to usecomputer animated aliens, and for some reason I find that mixing CG stuff in witha live action movie usually looks like ass.The CG aliens didn’t look as bad as they could have, but they were notexactly awe-inspiring either.

I certainly didn’t like the cheesy love story in this movie, but I guess if you’re lookingat an 80’s Ghostbusters model, it was necessary. It was just totally not feasible, andtotally not Duchovny’s style, considering it took Mulder like 8 seasons or something beforehe finally had his first on-screen kiss with Scully.

And of course, to complete the Ghostbusters comparison, I must mention that thismovie ends with everyone covered in goo.

Evolution was a little better than I expected it to be, but just barely. It’s no Ghostbusters,that much is obvious, but really it wasn’t even in the same league as Ghostbusters to begin with.I guess this movie had its moments, I just wish it had more of them. It otherwise served asnothing more than somewhat entertaining, yet pretty forgettable fluff.Which is probably what most of you would have guessed from the start anyways. — Sean

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