Beware of the full moon! No, Evolution isn’t a werewolf picture. That’s a warning to moviegoers not interested in seeing Duchovny’s bare backside pressed against the windshield of a Jeep.
Sophomoric humor rules in this new sci-fi comedy directed by Ghostbusters-creator Ivan Reitman. It starts with a bang as a meteor hurtles to earth, barely missing firedude-in-training Scott (known for his roles in the teen sex romps American Pie, Road Trip and Dude, Where’s My Car?). A pair of underappreciated scientists (Jones and Duchovny) are quick to make the scene, hoping for a Nobel Prize. They soon discover, however, that the rock contains a single-celled organism ready to divide and conquer. As the alien menace evolves at an accelerated rate, our heroes must outdo inept Pentagon officials, find its weakness (dandruff shampoo) and save mankind.
Audiences will have a close encounter with sexual dialogue, scatological humor, frequent profanity, alcohol use, and several violent confrontations between humans and aliens. The film also endorses the unbiblical theory of macroevolution, suggesting that it took billions of years to generate humanity from the primordial ooze.
Special effects wiz Phil Tippett said, “Some of our evolutionary paths met dead ends, so we’d back up and go in other directions until we found the look and feel of what these phantasmagorical beings should be within the context of the story.” Sounds like a real-life Darwinist at work.
Beyond some selfless derring-do and cool creature effects, Evolution is just The X-Files with a joy buzzer, a modest distraction with more gaffs than laughs.
