As a big fan of Ghostbusters, I was excited to watch the 2001 comedy (directed by the same director, Ivan Reitman) titled:

Evolution could easily be mistaken for a spiritual successor to the aforementioned Ghostbusters as it features four unlikely heroes (three of which scientists) as they fend off an attack from some other-worldy creatures.

Side Note: You can probably find similarities in almost any two movies. Seriously, try it.

Starring David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones, and Sean William Scott as the four unlikely heroes. Two community college professors (Duchovny and Jones) come across a meteor discovered by a dimwitted, local wannabe firefighter (Scott).  It’s here that they make a massive discovery regarding a primordial ooze that emanates from the rock (“it bleeds”).

The ooze contains nitrogen-based single-celled organisms that rapidly evolve into multi-celled organisms and beyond, exponentially. The government naturally gets involved and seizes all of their findings as well as putting the cave whiched housed the meteor on lockdown.

Eventually, the whole town gets overrun by the ever-evolving creatures as they continue to adapt, allowing them the ability to breathe oxygen.

When the government shuts out our heroes and plans to napalm the shit out of these creatures (fire acts as a catalyst, so that’s bad), the heroes step up with the help of Michael Bower and Ethan Suplee, fill a fire truck with head and shoulders, and take down the now giant single-celled organism.

Have I mentioned that the plot is pretty silly?

Where/ when did I first see it?

I first watched this movie in the theaters as it released in 2001; one of my busiest movie-going stretches. I think I watched a movie at the theater every weekend. How many is that? Oh weird, fifty-two.

How does it hold up?

Evolution is pretty cheesy. It wears its premise on its Star Trek costumed sleeve and has fun with it. It’s not meant to be a clever sci-fi outing, but it is meant to be fun, and for the most part that notion holds up well.

The humor is somewhat dated, but what isn’t in the afterglow of comedic evolution– pun NOT intended! Plus, that’s barely even a pun.

The most archaic thing in this film is its special effects. The aliens look terrible… when they are CGI. When they use practical effects, they seem to work well. Especially the “dog” in the closet; that looked cool. At least with that scene they were able to blend the two effectively.

This is the era where CGI had its “awkward years,” like most of my high school!

All in all, after re-watching it was more nostalgia than funny. Ghostbusters will always hold up but Evolution loses some of its staying power as the years go on.

What did I like about it and why?

Evolution truly does feel like a spiritual successor to Ghostbusters, but it’s not in a way that screams “Copycat!” It definitely made itself different in more ways than one.

I liked the cast a lot. Duchovny had a great chemistry with both Jones and Moore. Sean William Scott was funny as well with his dumb persona.

It’s also funny to note he did the same bird call/taunt as he did in The Rundown. Ca-Caw! Ca-Caw! Tookie tookie!

The supporting cast is also amazing– Ted Levine, Ty Burrell (in his first role), and Dan Aykroyd to name a few.

Lessons Learned?

1. CGI from 1995-2005 doesn’t hold up.
2. Aliens are different than us.
3. Orlando Jones has vanished, when he should have flourished.

 

Where can you see it?

Check out Evolution on CanIStream.It?

-Jamie (@GuyOnAWire)

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