Evolution

Evolution – Science teachers, Ira Kane and Harry Block discover a recently crashed meteorite that contains the beginnings of life. When it begins to evolve rapidly, the military get involved and with the alien life appearing to be malevolent, the need to destroy it becomes a priority but with both parties disagreeing about the way to do it, will they be able to stop the aliens before it’s too late?

Evolution (2001) – Director: Ivan Reitman

Rating: PG

Running Length: 71 mins

Starring: David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Julianne Moore

Genre: Comedy, Science Fiction

REVIEW: ‘EVOLUTION’

‘Evolution’ sees aggressive but unintelligent alien life-forms land on Earth which evolve rapidly to the point where it seriously threatens all life on the planet. Fresh from the heyday of his better known role of Fox Mulder in ‘The X Files’ TV series, David Duchovny embraces the chance of taking on comedy in a much sillier and light-hearted performance in ‘Evolution’. It is good to see intelligence (the protagonists) being prized higher than brutish strength (the military) and that despite being sidelined, determination pushes Ira, Harry, et al to fight to ensure their ideas are put into practice.

Unfortunately, while the humour is good in ‘Evolution’ it doesn’t quite hit its mark enough to make it the great film it has the potential to be. The silliness is overdone; it is too childish and there are too many adult references (albeit nothing too strong) to be a kids’ film. This makes the movie appear confused with its target audience and in need of some editing to tighten up the script and inject some extra comedy gems.

‘Evolution’ isn’t a ‘bad’ film but it is disappointing as it could have been a comedy great, especially with David Duchovny taking the helm in a similar but much different role to his ‘X-Files’ alter ego. It is a movie to be enjoyed at the time of watching but as it isn’t particularly memorable, repeat viewings are likely to be few and far between.

CONTENT: IS ‘EVOLUTION’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A college student flirts with her male teacher, wearing revealing clothes that show off her cleavage and legs. Another male teacher walks in and, when he sees what the girl is doing, he asks his colleague ‘Lunch? Or have you already eaten?’

Several characters discuss the rapid evolution of the alien species; during the conversation, they say ‘no sex?’ ‘no time for sex’ ‘bummer’.

A character looks into a tank of water, he gets very close to the glass and a fish-like creature with sharp teeth suddenly appears and lunges at him.

A member of the military tells a character that they have been monitoring their computer; another character chimes in saying ‘all those girls in the photos are over eighteen’.

An insect burrows under the skin of a character and is seen moving about. The only way to remove it is ‘rectally’, the character is humorously distressed by this. During the procedure, the camera focuses on the character’s face, he is uncomfortable about what is happening and it is clearly painful for him. Afterwards, another character praises him by saying ‘you took it like a man’ and the character walks with a limp for a while. This whole scene is comedic and although the character is unhappy with the situation, he knows that it has to happen.

A man is attacked by a large alien that jumps out of some water, chases the man and drags him back. The man cries out for help and his nails make deep grooves in the ground as he is dragged away.

An alien opens its mouth and a long tongue with a face lunges out, the ‘face’ of the tongue bites the hand of a nearby woman who screams in surprise and pain. Some blood is seen but this isn’t too graphic.

A male character asks another about him coaching girls volleyball and says ‘you ever see them in the shower?’ to which the other man replies ‘yes, all the time, sometimes the let me shower with them’.

Some ape-like creatures attack a military base and hurt several people. They bite and scratch with long claws, one incidental character is thrown through a hole which has a long drop before they hit the ground.

A woman wears a t-shirt that has the periodic table of elements on the back of it. A man looks at it intently and after trying to explain something he says ‘take off your shirt and I’ll show you’. He doesn’t mean this in a sexual way but she is shocked by what he has said and two teenage boys in the room get excited by it.

Two characters sneak away from a group of people and begin to take off their clothes, they get into a fire truck and the camera cuts away. Someone who knows them indicates that he knows that they have left to have sex.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘EVOLUTION’ FOR KIDS?

Sadly, ‘Evolution’ is a disappointing movie that doesn’t quite know who it’s trying to appeal to. The rating of this movie is awkward as the sexual innuendo should make it for older kids than a ‘PG’ would suggest but it isn’t strong enough to make it a ‘12’. The innuendo ranges from mild to moderate so it really depends on the child’s sensibilities to this but we feel that ‘Evolution’ should be appropriate for kids aged eleven and over. We would potentially recommend supervision on the first viewing.

• Violence: 3/5 (a large flying alien crashes into a shopping mall and grabs a woman then flies away with her in its talons while she screams in fear. Dozens of incidental soldiers are crushed to death by a large blob with tentacles)
• Emotional Distress: 0/5
• Fear Factor: 1/5
• Sexual Content: 4/5 (a character moons another, he is seen from a distance but his backside is fully shown on-screen. A woman falls over, her skirt gets hitched up and her stockings and suspenders are shown in close-up. A woman opens her shirt in public and her bra is seen. A young woman holds a placard that says ‘I can’t die as a virgin’)          
• Bad Language: 3/5 (frequent mild to moderate cursing and blasphemy)
• Dialogue: 4/5 (mostly sexual innuendo)
• Other notes: Deals with themes of an alien invasion, trusting your instincts, disagreeing with authority and standing up for what you believe in.

Words by Laura Record

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