Evolution
 (2001)
review by Head Cheeze

If David Duchovny was so sick of chasing around little green men on The X-Files, why was his first starring role in a film after quitting the series that of an ex-government scientist chasing little green men?? Maybe it was the irony that made him do it, or maybe it was the chance to work with Ghostbuster's director Ivan Reitman, or, perhaps, maybe it was his way of saying he didn't mind chasing little green men, as long as he was getting his full share of the money! For whatever the reason, Duchovny strapped on the E.T. hunting gear in 2001's Evolution, and took a career swan dive that would make David Caruso proud.

Dr. Ira Kane (Duchovny) is an ex-army scientist, now working as a small town Arizona college professor, who stumbles upon extra-terrestrial life that has hitchiked it's way to Earth attached to a fallen meteorite. Kane and his colleague, Geology professor Harry Block (Jones), plan to use their discovery as their ticket to bigger and better things, until the government steps in and cuts them out of loop. Sexy CDC agent Allison Reed (Moore) and Kane's old boss, General Woodman (Silence of the Lamb's Ted Levine) take over the investigation as the once microscopic lifeforms begin to grow and evolve into mutant insects, reptiles, and beyond. When the creatures begin to surface and wreak havoc, Kane, Block, Reed, and local simpleton Wayne Grey (William Scott) team up to try and save the world from the evil E.T.'s.

Evolution is basically Ghostbusters with microcosms replacing the ectoplasm, and Duchovny, Jones, Moore, and William Scott replacing Murray, Akroyd (who cameos here), Ramis, and Hudson as the heroic misfits. Reitman, whose track record since Ghostbusters 2 has been less than impressive, revisits this familiar territory, apparently in hopes of kicking off another big money franchise, but delivering an enjoyable yet ultimately unoriginal "monster movie". On the plus side, the film's creature effects by KNB are very impressive and appropriately cartoonish, and the script fires off so many jokes that it's successful ones tend to smooth over the flatliners, but Duchovny and crew seem to be having TOO much fun to the point where the wink-wink, nudge-nudge feel of the production proves grating and artificial.

The region one Columbia/Tristar DVD features a commentary, deleted scenes, trailer, and a short FX documentary as well as the usual trimmings. The picture and sound quality is top notch, but that's to be expected given that this is a film pretty much tailor made for the DVD market.

Evolution doesn't try to hard to hide it's pedigree, and that is where it ultimately fails to serve as more than a harmless distraction. Were as much attention paid to the script as to the special effects, Evolution could have been much more.