Evan tout-puissant

This movie turned out to be a little better than I thought. Steve Carroll was funny as usually. The animals were cool too. Some of them were real, but a lot of them were computer generated. I thought the film sent a good message. That spending family time is important and that is what God was trying to teach the Baxter's. I liked the part that Evan couldn't cut his hair or beard and then then the Moses robes added to the effect. I have to take away some praise though with the whole ark floating though Washington DC. That was just plain silly. Wanda Sikes gets some good one liners too.

FINAL VERDICT: More geared for kids. It's OK to watch once, but not good enough for more viewings.

I don't understand all the negativity towards this movie, I loved it and thought it was just as good as Bruce Almighty (if anything, I think I may prefer it). It's creative, lighthearted, and overall a fun movie that I've watched several times!

This was, simply put, a bad movie. As a big fan of Steve Carell, I had high hopes, at least for his performance. Unfortunately, he could do nothing to save it. There were even times when I found him to be incredibly annoying. The pace is too fast, to the point where watching the beginning of the film is like seeing a montage of events that happened prior. There is little to no character development, especially for Evan's family. While the film is visually stunning, an overinflated budget cannot always save a film from a poor script, poor acting, and poor direction. Don't waste your time unless you're with children.

5/10

Steve Carell returns as prissy newsreader Evan Baxter, a little less mean-spirited this time around unlike his previous small turn in 'Bruce Almighty'. Of course, Carell was up and coming then but as his box-office success shows, the character responsible for arguably the only really funny scene in 'Bruce Almighty' deserves a film of his own. Shadayac and co. have approached it with a novel (if potentially expensive idea) to make God (Morgan Freeman) appear this time to instruct Baxter to build an Arc and, as Noah did before him, load it full of animals to protect them from an for an oncoming flood. It's an idea that's very entertaining, even if the jokes are less easy than the previous premise. Evan's transformation of appearance and being pursued by eager animals are the main areas of humour here, which means at times the film is thin on the ground. Sentiment comes in the form of Evan's neglect of his family; the audience will know exactly where this will be going, but fortunately the sentiment isn't as annoying as you might believe. It's also very much a family affair, the humour and the language very much for family audiences. Disappointingly, Shadayac, responsible for bringing out two of Jim Carrey's worst performances (namely 'Liar Liar' and 'Bruce Almighty') by letting Carrey overdo it by seemingly telling him to do the whole thing as an impression of William Shatner, mistakenly this time opts to take Carell down a notch. Carell's trademark hysteria and bizarre reactions are in short supply and we have an all together calmer 'Little Miss Sunshine'-esquire turn, which also means the film loses some of it's potential in this instance. Wanda Sykes and co. are merely stock characters needing better dialogue. Does this make it a bad film? Not at all. It's religious tie-ins (if rushed) are quite smart and it's very well directed visually with a great use of music and keeping a steady pace. It is what's on the label, but with a jaw-droppingly impressive final act which will really take you by surprise and could be up there as one of the sights of the summer! You could do a lot worse than enjoy 100 minutes of easy-going fun but if it's a laugh-out-loud roller-coaster you want, you will leave short-changed!

With a cast of hugely talented comedic actors like Steve Carell, Lauren Graham, John Goodman and Wanda Sykes, I was expecting a laugh out loud comedy. Sadly, Shadyac's 'Evan Almighty' only provides a few such moments. There just isn't enough comedy and at times it's a little too dramatic. Throughout the films, there are only but a very few dialogues that are funny as a result of which actors like Sykes and Graham don't have enough comedy to work with. Carell reprises his role from the prequel 'Bruce Almighty' but this time he's a little more of a nicer guy. Overall, Carell does a good job but he's more in the 'Little Miss Sunshine' mode which brings 'Evan Almighty' down a notch because that kind of character doesn't fully work for this kind of film and it is Shadyac to be blamed for not making something better of something decent. Yet, Carell's the only one who provides comic relief even though it's with limited quantity. His interaction with the animals are awesome to watch. Morgan Freeman is more cheerful and more annoying in this one. Lauren Graham plays the typical housewife and mother well and her reaction to Carell's transformation is excellent. In spite of all it's flaws, it is the last half hour that lifts the film. It builds up the drama and suspense very well and sort of has an adventurous feel. This entire sequence is very well executed. The soundtrack is well used and the songs are nice too. Thus, despite its shortcomings, it's still entertaining, but don't expect a laugh riot.