Evan Almighty | REVIEW

I love Steve Carell. Not in a man-to-man way (not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not how I swing), but in a 'I love his comedy' way. The man's just funny to look at. This time around he reprises his role as the ex-pri*k from Bruce Almighty, Evan Baxter. The synopsis goes like this : Evan Baxter is on a roll. He's got a beautiful wife, three great sons, a huge-ass house, and he's just moved into Congress! Evan ultimately wants to change the world for the better, but never would he have imagined that he would do it directly via God's orders. Morgan Freeman reprises his role as the Almighty, who wants Evan Baxter to build an Ark like that of Noah's. And it has to be done before an impending flood.

I remember hearing a lot of people say that Evan Almighty sucked elephant b*lls and wasn't as worthwhile as Bruce Almighty etc etc. I watched it recently and found it to be surprisingly entertaining. Not only is Steve Carell good, but the story isn't all that bad either. Okay, so the CGI and effects may not be Transformers-material, but on a whole, this film is fairly underrated. The soundtrack is oddly enough, very nice. It fits well with the movie. And, Jonah Hill has a role in the flick as Eugene, which is just awesome. It's good that I watched Superbad before Evan Almighty, that way I enjoyed watching Jonah Hill play this role even though it's not as hilarious as Seth is Superbad.

I think the one thing that dents this film is Wanda Sykes, who plays Evan's secretary or something. Sure, she cracks a LOT of jokes in the movie, but none of which I can actually laugh to. If her intention is to make people laugh I suggest she try working on the humor more. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who thinks this, but the movie could have done without her. But I guess it's okay, because Ed Helms (Andy, in The Office) compensates for her lousy sense of comedy. The guy's a effin' classic, folks.

Oh, and for those of you who intend to see Jim Carrey make a cameo in this sequel, don't bother. The funnyman doesn't show.

I'd say the weak points in this movie are the visual effects and Wanda Sykes. I'm not going to complain about story arcs and character development because let's face the simple facts, it's Evan Almighty not There Will Be Blood. Nobody gives two sh*ts about story arcs and whatnot. The movie has a short runtime which is good because there's no point in stretching it anyway. Go ahead and rent it, it's worth the time and you'll probably enjoy the flick more than you expected.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wrap : Evan Almighty gets, well, 3 stars out of 5. Didn't I say it was underrated? It's not all that bad, people. Give it a chance already. And it's Steve Carell! If all else fails, he'll probably save your day and time.