Memory Box Movies - Review: Evolution (2001)

Here is my first review from Memory Box Movies.

I remember the first time I saw this film, it was with my friend Claire who begrudgingly came with me to see a sci-fi film and she was not happy about it. However, what we got was an American Pie style comedy wrapped around a sci-fi premise and that was brilliant!!

The film follows Ira (David Duchovney) and Harry (Orlando Jones) who while attempting to study a geological site stumble across alien life forms, which evolve at an extremely rapid rate.  Obviously no one believes them and chaos ensues.  Dragging Allison (Julianne Moore) and Wayne (Sean William-Scott) into the mix leaves us with a dysfunctional group of misfits trying to save the world!

I was so chuffed when I saw that Jenna had reviewed this. I'd never seen it before but I remember a family holiday years ago, everyone was talking about it and I wasn't allowed to see it. I'd actually forgotten all about it until now!

 

I didn't expect to enjoy this film as much as I did, some of the comedy one-liners had me in fits of laughter and I wasn't even disappointed with the fact that Sean William-Scott plays the only character he seems to know how to play. The story is unique and different from sci-fi films at the time, it has a real old school B-Movie feel about it which only adds to its charm.

Ira and Harry's double act is brilliant, I would not have put them together but they have a real chemistry.  Ira's dry humour coupled with Harry's more obvious humour is a great combination.  Julianne Moore doesn't appear to have much use in the film other than a minor love interest storyline but this doesn't ruin it for me, I would happily watch this film over and over again and still find the toilet humour funny. 

I didn't really get on with Evolution if I'm honest. I think if I had seen it when it first came out, it would have been a different story. In fact, I'd love to find someone who has never seen Dude Where's My Car, get them to watch it now and see what they think, because I bet they'll hate it.

I don't want to hate on Evolution because it wasn't a bad film, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. If I could, I would go back in time and see it years ago when it was a little more relevant.

 

This is a must see for anyone who enjoys Monster B-Movies and American Pie (odd combination I know but you have to see it to believe it). Give it a go, you might like it!

 

Review: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

I didn't really want to see this film, I've gone right off Tom Cruise since the debacle that was Jack Reacher so I just didn't want to be disappointed again!  Luckily, I didn't judge a book by it's lead actor and went anyway and I'm glad I did...

William Cage (Tom Cruise) is a scared officer, unwilling to go anywhere near the front line until he is thrown in the deep end by General Brigham.  Once in the action, he gets caught in a time loop that wakes him up at the same point whenever he dies.  He then meets Rita (Emily Blunt) who knows what's happening to him and promises him to train him up.  The rest of the film is them working as a team to save the world from an alien invasion, the same day at a time!

I haven't seen this yet, but I will, begrudgingly. A friend at work made a joke about Tom Cruise's film roles, basically saying that he plays the exact same character in everything that he's in. I shouldn't judge him for that, because for me, Liam Neeson could play the same role in every film and it would take a while for me to get bored of that. But still!

Whenever I watch a movie that involves time loops or time travel I have to fight the urge to analyse it to death, looking got plot holes and paradoxes that can't be explained away.  A two hour discussion with my dad about Paycheck with Ben Affleck ruined that film for me, even though I quite enjoyed it initially, I can't watch it now.  Looper is another one that I have analysed to death and never want to watch again because the one major plot hole has ruined it for me.  So I tried to watch this with an open mind and not think about the time loop aspect and just enjoy the film.  That is exactly what I did, I really enjoyed this, it had a twist on your classic alien fighting film in that the bloke is the weak scared one and the woman is badass (which I loved!).  If you had told me last year that Emily Blunt was going to play a badass alien fighter, I would have laughed in your face, but she absolutely nailed it.

There were some great comedy elements throughout and it touched on a complicated romance between the guy who's learning all about the girl and the girl who has only ever known the guy for a day but didn't focus too much on it.  The action sequences were great and not so rushed that you can't see what's happening (a failure of all Transformers movies in my opinion) and they managed to not make it at all repetitive considering the film is a constant repeat of the same day.  When they had to go through the same scenes again they used comedy to make it different from the first time around which I loved.

I promise I'll watch this, once the DVD is out probably, and give it a chance. I know I'll enjoy it once I see it!

Definitely worth seeing, even if you are like me and have lost faith in Tom Cruise, this might just bring you back.