Evolution (2001) - Reitman's sci-fi crazy-comedy is thoroughly entertaining

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The game stars are aligned for a visit from space, on this poster for Ivan Reitman's Evolution

 

A meteor lands in Arizona, and freaky aliens start evolving with alarming speed, while a few scientists fight with the military over who is to be in charge and what is to be done.

Evolution, written by David Weissman (The Family Man (2000)), Don Jakoby (Arachnophobia (1990)) and David Diamond (Old Dogs (2009)) and directed by Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters (1984)), is a sometimes funny and wacky special effects-driven sci-fi comedy.

David Duchovny (Playing God (1997)) and Julianne Moore (The English Teacher (2013)) are a pretty nice match as the scientific protagonists who (of course) become romantically entangled during the whole ballyhoo. Seann William Scott (Role Models (2008)) is gung-ho as a wannabe firefighter, and the relatively unknown Orlando Jones (Woo (1998)) as the fourth part of the ragtag team also does well. Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers (1980)) as the governor is the crowning piece of the ensemble that also features several well-known actors and comedians in smaller parts. The characters are to some extent cliched: Jones' black scientist seems oblivious to basic laws of science and only interested in women; Ted Levine's general character is a stiff, unsympathetic macho a-hole; and the two obese students are good-humored imbeciles. But the film retains a strange, light-hearted charm, even if it did seem a bit better at its release than it does today.

The effects, most of which are CGI, are surprisingly successful; the creatures are inventive and only add to the fun. Evolution is a very wacky spectacle, - exactly what you'd expect from Reitman, and also what Hollywood does so well from time to time. It is very silly and quite entertaining.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 80 mil. $

Box office: 98.3 mil. $

= Big flop

[Evolution was released June 8 and runs 101 minutes. Reitman reportedly rewrote most of the script, which had hitherto been a serious sci-fi piece. Shooting took place from October 2000 - February 2001 in Arizona and California, including in Universal Studios and at California State University. Head and Shoulders shampoo plays a part in the film, - but its inclusion is not an act of commercial product placement; instead it is meant to mock the phenomenon, which is very common in especially big-budget features. The film opened #4, behind Swordfish, Shrek and Pearl Harbor, to a 13.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it fell from the top 5 in its second week and only grossed a weak 38.3 mil. $ (39 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 10.7 mil. $ (10.9 %) and Germany with 7 mil. $ (7.1 %). Evolution is rotten at 42 % with a 4.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Evolution?