Evolution is quite a fun little film. As two college teachers struggle with government agents to get credit for discovering aliens, said aliens rapidly evolve into a menace. Shampoo to the rescue!
The main thing I would fault this movie with is that it does not quite get the balance of slapstick humor and character-driven humor right. The CDC director falls a little too often; the mooning scene does nothing for Duchovny's character; and getting sucked into the anus of a cell (whatever that is) might get the 8 year-olds to laugh, but not much anyone else.
That said, the film is a whole lot of guilty fun! As a scientist, I was particularly happy to see that they stuck some real science in it, even though things got stretched - a whole lot - to accommodate the zany plot. I saw it again recently while giving my wife a back rub, and even she had to snicker a few times, although she protested when I hinted she might actually have enjoyed parts of this movie. It had aged well, despite the somewhat early-vintage special effects. I think this really has the making of a sci-fi comedy cult classic, with unforgettable set pieces like a snobbish employer of one of the main characters getting dragged from a golf course into oblivion by a gator-like evolved critter. Or the oh-so-cute alien turning out to have a vicious tongue! And of course, the chemistry between the five main characters (three good, one who turns good, and one despicable general) is good - an important ingredient in any comedy worth its salt.
So I give this 7 stars, usually reserved for films good enough that I might see them more than once - as I did in this case.
The main thing I would fault this movie with is that it does not quite get the balance of slapstick humor and character-driven humor right. The CDC director falls a little too often; the mooning scene does nothing for Duchovny's character; and getting sucked into the anus of a cell (whatever that is) might get the 8 year-olds to laugh, but not much anyone else.
That said, the film is a whole lot of guilty fun! As a scientist, I was particularly happy to see that they stuck some real science in it, even though things got stretched - a whole lot - to accommodate the zany plot. I saw it again recently while giving my wife a back rub, and even she had to snicker a few times, although she protested when I hinted she might actually have enjoyed parts of this movie. It had aged well, despite the somewhat early-vintage special effects. I think this really has the making of a sci-fi comedy cult classic, with unforgettable set pieces like a snobbish employer of one of the main characters getting dragged from a golf course into oblivion by a gator-like evolved critter. Or the oh-so-cute alien turning out to have a vicious tongue! And of course, the chemistry between the five main characters (three good, one who turns good, and one despicable general) is good - an important ingredient in any comedy worth its salt.
So I give this 7 stars, usually reserved for films good enough that I might see them more than once - as I did in this case.