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EVOLUTION
review by Joseph B. Mauceri
REVIEW: I had the opportunity to read Don Jakoby's screenplay a few drafts back. What ended up on the screen as EVOLUTION has more in common with Ivan Reitman's "Ghostbusters II" then Jakoby's vision. EVOLUTION is a reworking of every idea, every gag, every sequence and almost every shot from "Ghostbusters." There is an alien creature that looks like Slimer, there is a giant creature at the end that is the alien equivalent to the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man -- and there's some goo thrown in too. The heros are simply a recombination of the traits of the ghostbusters -- Venkman, Stantz, Spengler & Winston. Heck, most of the funny stuff is in the trailers. The one or two other bits, as well as most of the jokes, are base anus humor. I could have been more forgiving of the film had the stars at least worked the material, but the cast delivers nothing. Okay, let me restate that. Orlando Jones was on, Duchovny was sleepwalking and Moore could have phoned it in. Maybe it was Reitman's fault, maybe it was the screenplay, or it could have simply been that Duchovny and Moore were overworked. Regardless, there is not life or charisma here. The production designs look more like resourceful locations independent filmmakers use. However, they know how to frame the camera in order to get the most for their buck. There is too much empty space in EVOLUTION, and when they use tight shots later on you can tell it is due to the lack of scale to the set. EVOLUTION clearly demonstrates the devolution of Reitman's abilities as a filmmaker. I feel that I've done an injustice by comparing it to "Ghostbusters," or by comparing it to any film, as that was a far better film. While I'm sure that some might feel taken, regardless if they buy the full price of admission or a bargain price, a colleague put it best when he said, "That is two hours of my life that I will never have back." OFFICIAL
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SYNOPSIS:
Meteorite with alien DNA has the potential to overrun the earth,
if these creatures can adapt to our atmosphere. Who you gonna call?
Well, you get the idea.