Evolution
Directed by Ivan Reitman
Starring David Duchovney, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Julianne Moore, Ted Levine, Ethan Suplee, and Dan Aykroyd.
Men In Black was described as Ghostbusters meets X-Files. Then, I started reading a few things online about Evolution. It sounded like it was going to be Men In Black from the director of Ghostbusters and starring the guy from X-Files. And since I liked all three, I started putting Evolution on my must-see-movies list. And besides, any chance to get out of the house and hook up with an old friend to see a movie is an opportunity not to be taken lightly.
Dr. Ira Kane (Duchovney) is a disgraced army scientist who now finds himself teaching at a small community college in Arizona. One of his few associates is Harry Block (Jones), another teacher at the college. When a meteor strikes outside of town, they head out to investigate and make an amazing discovery. The meteor is teeming with single-celled organisms! But that’s not all. These alien life forms are evolving at a phenomenal rate. Within a day, they evolve from single celled organisms to worms and soon bigger creatures. As much as they try to keep this discovery under wraps, it’s not long before the army discovers it and moves in with their own research team, headed up by Dr. Allison Reed (Moore). But soon, not even the Army can keep these rapidly evolving creatures under wraps as they begin making their way out of the crash site and terrorize the town. With the help of a local poolboy/wannabe firefighter (Scott), can our intrepid team of scientists destroy the aliens before they evolve into something that can take over the world?
You can see many similarities to Ghostbusters in this film in certain characterizations and scenes, but it just doesn’t gel they way Ghostbusters did. Having seen this the same day as Shrek, I just couldn’t help but notice how this comedy just didn’t have me smiling as much as Shrek did. Yes, there are some truly funny moments, but not enough. The cast makes a good go of it, but sadly, it’s just not Ghostbusters. Still, though, it did make me want to buy some Head and Shoulders shampoo. It was OK, but not as good as it could have been.