Evolution: The Musical! (2008) User Reviews

not without humor

[christophercy · 6/10 · 27 April 2009]

Hmmm if you have nothing nice to say, say it about Tom Cruise. This is a short flick and the cast deliver in earnest and obviously enjoyed making the film. The lyrics and tunes are all original and not devoid of whit and vaguely infectious. Concerns evolution vs. creationism and is not a serious debate but presents well rounded arguments from both parties in fairly funny guises. The "beasties" (the side for evolution) tend to border on the contrived and are the less funny of the two groups. The actress playing Queen Bonobo plays her part too broad and brings no credibility to the production. The dude who plays Wog Wog delivers and is endearing and amusing. The religious folk (creationists)elicit more humor and the "rap" is a hoot. Mother Grizzard is a stereotype but a successful one.

Give it a go at under 30mins you can afford to switch your brain off.

If only it'd had the audio production values of Rocky Horror!

[rzajac · 7/10 · 29 June 2011]

"Evolution: The Musical!" was a labor of love, but marred by a lack of audio production values where they were needed. It's kinda tragic, really.

The main problem for me was with the audio. I really have no problem with zany lyrics and over-the-top amateur thespianizing. In fact, I generally can't get enough of this! So, what's the prob? For one thing, the dynamics were uneven: Plain dialog was maddeningly weak while juxtaposed with musical numbers that were at an appropriate volume. Well, that sucks. The other problem was that choral numbers and solos were croaked out, with the words very difficult to discern. So I guess my cure would have been to have had more seasoned personnel attending to these things. The audio experience should have been more like that of Rocky Horror, which had its share of colorful sprechstimme and off-key singing, and yet conveyed the lyric content wonderfully.

Besides these disappointments, there were certainly nice sequences, such as those where Jesus and Darwin make the scene; some of the better acting was seen there.

If you watch this at home, I guess I would recommend listening with headphones. I haven't yet done this, so don't know for sure whether that would do the trick.

All that said, it was cheeky and campy and there were some great visual ideas, and a seemingly (not quite sure) interesting exploration of the culture collision of world views.

Check it out.

lots of unexpected fun moments!

[buccaneer97 · 9/10 · 16 March 2010]

not sure who made this film or why, but i like how they focus on just being super weird and funny without trying to make some huge point.

it's called "evolution" and it might sound like a political film, but mostly it's just wacky characters singing, dancing and acting stupid. in a good way.

i love the old lady. she is killing it with her dance moves and one liners.

the plot is a little thin and predictable, but so many moments are fresh and bizarre. the production quality could be better too, but the passion and fun that went into this movie makes up for it, and then some.

it feels super indie and is the kind of thing that makes me want to start making movies myself!