Evolution (2001)

A fire-fighting cadet, two college professors, and a geeky but sexy government scientist work against an alien organism that has been rapidly evolving since its arrival on Earth inside a meteor.

Director:

Ivan Reitman

Writers:

Don Jakoby (story), David Diamond (screenplay)

Stars:

David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Julianne Moore

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Duchovny	...	Ira
Julianne Moore	...	Allison
Orlando Jones	...	Harry
Seann William Scott	...	Wayne
Ted Levine	...	Gen. Woodman
Ethan Suplee	...	Deke
Michael Bower	...	Danny (as Michael Ray Bower)
Pat Kilbane	...	Officer Johnson
Ty Burrell	...	Flemming
Dan Aykroyd	...	Governor Lewis
Katharine Towne	...	Nadine
Gregory Itzin	...	Cartwright
Ashley Clark	...	Lt. Cryer
Michelle Wolff	...	Carla
Sarah Silverman	...	Denise

Storyline

When a meteorite falls to Earth two college professors, Dr. Ira Kane and Prof. Harry Phineas Block, are assigned the job of checking the site out. At the site, they discover organisms not of this planet. Soon the site is taken over by the government, forcing Ira and Harry to the side. As the new life-forms begin to evolve and start to get more and more dangerous, it's up to the two professors to save the planet.

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Plot Keywords:

shampoo | alien | chase | hero | helicopter | 

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Taglines:

Coming to wipe that silly smile off your planet.

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Genres:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, and for sci-fi action

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 June 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Evolución

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,408,351, 10 June 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$38,345,494

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$98,376,292

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, DreamWorks, The Montecito Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot in December, DreamWorks asked the locals to delay putting up their Christmas decorations. Following the shoot, DreamWorks paid the city employees overtime to light up the town in time for Christmas.

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Goofs

Generals and CDC scientists do not argue cases in court or ask questions of witnesses.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[At night, Wayne drives out to a shack in the desert and places a mannequin inside it. He is wearing a yellow fireman's coat, without a fire department's name on it]
Wayne Grey: Despite all the warnings, she was smoking in bed, fell asleep. Bad move.
[He sloshes gasoline inside the shack and strikes a match]
Wayne Grey: And the fire begins. Showtime!
[Hollering in fake excitement, he charges into the shack]
Wayne Grey: Don't worry, ma'am, I'm here to save you!
[...]

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Crazy Credits

There is an item 'Stunt Primate'

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Alternate Versions

In the courtroom scene, 'Julianne Moore (I)''s character's top pops open, flashing David Duchovny and contributing to her character's inherent clumsiness. This was later cut from the theatrical release, but remnants of its effect can be seen in the courtroom scene. At the beginning of the scene, the top button of her blouse is obviously stretching her blouse, and later we see her clutching her jacket over the open shirt. There is also an allusion to it later in the diner when Orlando Jones comments upon Duchovny's ex pulling off one of his old shirts, saying all the women he's met today have taken off their shirts in front of him.

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Connections

References The Abyss (1989)

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Soundtracks

Parking Lot
Written by Morgan Nagler

User Reviews

Think Ghostbusters with aliens, the heart and mood of Galaxy Quest, better special effects, and Orlando Jones.

Let me say this: I was never a fan of Ghostbusters. I guess I never got in on the bandwagon on that one. I never found it to be as funny as a lot of people (tons of people actually) found it. I thought parts of it were cool (like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man), but most of the movie was too drab for me, for some reason. Someday I'll write a review of it, but I'm too lazy to do it right now.

Why am I talking about Ghostbusters when I'm reviewing Evolution, some of you ask? Well, it's simple. The same man directs both movies (Ivan Reitman) and both movies have very similar plots. Except that, in my opinion, Evolution is better. Basically, think of Evolution as a remake of Ghostbusters only throw out the ghosts and put in aliens, which I like because aliens, in my opinion, are cooler and more realistic than ghosts.

Let me mention some bad stuff, just to get it over with because I have to do at some point. This movie misses some serious opportunities to be funny. Sometimes, when you are expecting a joke, there is none. It's almost as if they really weren't trying. Sometimes the jokes are a little corny.

One last bad note: some of the aliens suck. The ending alien is a bit of a let down. It kind of reminded me of Akira, if you've seen that movie. There is also this cute alien who turns out to be nasty via the "mouth within a mouth", a la Ridley Scott's Alien.

Now on to some good stuff. This movie is really funny in a happy kind of way. I compare the mood of this movie to another Dreamworks alien-comedy, Galaxy Quest (a movie I thought was hilarious). If you liked Galaxy Quest, and I think most people did, then you will like Evolution.

Something else I would like to point out is how scientific Evolution is. The movie seems very intelligent as far as talking about how the aliens evolve. I for one and happy to see a movie that isn't completely dumbed down for the uneducated. I like alien stuff and space stuff, so this kind of science interests me. Overall, I found Evolution to be very intriguing apart from being funny.

Oh, I want to mention Orlando Jones. He's the black guy from those 7-Up commercials. I love this guy. He steals the show in this movie. I knew the guy was great ever since I saw the first of those 7-Up commercials. He was also in the Replacements (that lame football comedy which was also somewhat entertaining), and he's probably been in some other stuff I haven't seen or can't remember. But let me tell you, this guy is going places. As for the other actors, they're decent. I like the touch of having David Duchovny on board. Julian Moore is a good actress, but she got shafted in the character department. She has a basic "walking cardboard cutout" character with little personality. Oh well.

In conclusion, please do me a favor of not going into this movie expecting a great movie. Why do people do that? Every movie can't be the Godfather or 2001 or Saving Private Ryan, so why don't you just shut up and enjoy the movie. You won't look back at Evolution at the end of the summer as you favorite summer movie this year, but you're not supposed to. Evolution was made to be entertaining, not great. It was made to give you your money's worth and put forth an enjoyable show. I think it accomplishes its mission.

7/10