Evolution (2001)
Directed by Ivan Reitman
A comedy that follows the chaos that ensues when a meteor hits the Earth carrying alien life forms that give new meaning to the term "survival of the fittest." David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, and Julianne Moore are the only people standing between the aliens and world domination... which could be bad news for the Earth.
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What critics compared Evolution to
It's baffling that the same comic mind that directed Meatballs, Ghostbusters, and Dave could have coughed up this underachieving and so very un-comic sci-fi spoof … but then Ivan Reitman also made Father's Day -- a film that managed to make you forget Robin Williams and Billy Crystal were two of the funniest men alive.
That's because while it may look like the second coming of "Men in Black" - what with all of the creepy, crawly and occasionally monstrous looking extraterrestrial critters that populate the story - it's actually just a revamped, if anally obsessed version of "Ghostbusters."
While "Ghostbusters" was able to mix scares with laughs, "Evolution" falls flat on both counts, and ends up being uninspired.
I can't think of a recent movie that wastes quite as much talent as "Evolution", the "Ghostbusters" rip-off from (surprise!) the people who brought you "Ghostbusters" just in time for the 17th anniversary of Director Ivan Reitman's paranormal comedy classic.
That's because while it may look like the second coming of "Men in Black" - what with all of the creepy, crawly and occasionally monstrous looking extraterrestrial critters that populate the story - it's actually just a revamped, if anally obsessed version of "Ghostbusters."
Reitman may have wanted to make a "Ghostbusters" for the new millennium, but what he has done with "Evolution," instead, is made a low-rent version of "Men in Black."
The basic idea is OK, hardly original ("Men in Black" is evoked more than once, "Jurassic Park" every time a dinosaur appears) but rife with possibilities of the human, if not extraterrestrial, variety.
If only Evolution replicated its cinematic references, from the obvious (Men in Black, Jurassic Park) to the obscure (Tremors), with the same haste as its aliens.
June 12, 2001 -- "Evolution" is a tongue-in-cheek, dumbed-down version of "Men in Black" from the director of "Ghostbusters."
I remember being dazzled by the exotic monsters in Men in Black, frightened by the huge dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, and stunned by The Phantom Menaces marching androids.
I do my best not to, but it seems that Kristen Stewart in "Twilight," Julianne Moore in "Evolution" (ech) and Sandra Bullock in this movie do it all the time.
It’s unsettling to think the man responsible for “Meatballs,” “Stripes,” “Ghostbusters,” and “Kindergarten Cop” has spent the last decade churning out misfires such as “Evolution” and “My Super Ex-Girlfriend.”
Might this combine the subtle acting of “Dude, Where’s My Car?” with the sensitive direction of “Evolution”?
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As part of his research, Alexander employs a computerized library hologram called Vox (Orlando Jones, "Evolution").
Once he realizes that going back is to no avail, he travels forward where he encounters some decent but brief laughs for the viewer, as well as Orlando Jones ("Evolution," "Double Take") playing a futuristic and holographic librarian with a funny riff on H.G. Wells and Andrew Lloyd Webber.