Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
A comedy that follows the chaos that ensues when a meteor hits the Earth carrying alien life forms that give new meaning to the term "survival of the fittest." David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, and Julianne Moore are the only people standing between the aliens and world domination... which could be bad news for the Earth.
Evolution is a breezy, good-natured sci-fi comedy that coasts on the charm of its cast rather than any real narrative ambition. The plot is formulaic — ragtag underdogs vs. alien invasion with a gimmicky resolution (giant Head & Shoulders shampoo attack) that feels both memorably absurd and narratively lazy. Duchovny and Jones have genuine chemistry and elevate middling material, while Seann William Scott does his familiar schtick competently. Cinematography is workmanlike blockbuster fare with nothing distinctive. Novelty gets a slight bump for its irreverent, campy tone and the genuinely weird premise of rapid alien evolution played for laughs — it occupies a specific niche of early-2000s Ghostbusters-lite comedy that gives it a mild cult identity. The ending, however, is one of its weakest points — a rushed, silly set-piece that sacrifices coherent payoff for gross-out spectacle.