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Bruce Almighty was Great, But this was just a big old Really..... IM guessing Steve Carell did not get enough spot light in the last movie so he wanted his own.

The Great Dictator -- 9

12 Angry Men -- 9.5

Happy Together -- 8.5

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World -- 6.5

Evan Almighty -- 6

A local church that meets in a theater had a special screening for church staff in the area and I was able to tag along with the guy who does the sound at my church. I guess since Evan Almighty is somewhat Christian based Universal is trying to milk the Christian crowd :p

This has been marketed as a sequel of some sort to Bruce Almighty, but while it still has Morgan Freeman as God and Steve Carell as Evan, the similarities pretty much end there. First off Evan Almighty is only PG not PG-13 like it's predecessor and because of that fact the humor has been turned down a bit. There are still some very funny parts but the language, sexual content and most of the crude humor is gone. Which may make more people go see it but for me it was not as funny as Bruce Almighty.

It was still entertaining and worth a watch and Steve Carell does a very good job taking on the role of Noah and building an ark just outside of DC. But with the humor turned down the way it was it was not quite as funny or as entertaining as Bruce Almighty 6/10

Evan Almighty is the massive follow up to Bruce Almighty, both directed by Tom Shadyac. There are more negatives to positives to point out, so if you really had your hopes up for the movie, you may want to drop this review. There are spoilers ahead, so be warned.

The movie is, in every way, inferior to its predecessor, which itself wasn't exactly a great movie. Sure, there are many laugh-out-loud moments. But it's as if the movie was meant to be half-comedy and half-cheesiness, and the second half of the movie is a) simply not funny, b) disorganized and plot-less and c) painfully ridiculous.

Evan Almighty is densely packed with plot problems. Some examples: Why were the animals coming from all over the world to follow Evan Baxter (naturally well-played by Steve Carell) when they aren't needed in the story? Why the entire talk about beautiful valleys versus cities when all God wants is to show how important family bonds are? What, really, is the family struggling with? If it's just time, can't we just cut to a weekend where time is found and avoid the entire movie? Why does Evan need to look and start acting like Noah, when it's Evan's issues at stake? How did Evan Baxter jump from a local newcaster to a national congressman when he needs a teenage boy to tell him everything, from who any given representative is to issues of law and policy? The ludicrous nature of the movie worsens greatly as the film progresses. No one questions that animals can help build an enormous ship, and no one really asks with any seriousness why all these bizarre things are taking place. It's as if flat characters needed only for one-liners really populated the entire world Evan lives in.

The reward at the end of the movie is a huge cliche about family values, the same one any person can expect when the movie opens but would pay not to see.

And yet the main problem with the film, in my eyes, is that the movie pretends to be a religious comedy, complete with messages of good versus bad. But, again, Evan Almighty misses the mark completely when it comes to thinking theologically. It would be worthwhile to use this movie for a church discussion--not because it's theologically equipping, but for the opposite reason: because it's theologically disastrous. The developers and people involved carefully avoid thinking critically about faith issues by sporadically throwing little plot hints, each problematic. For example, God, played in a charmingly tiresome way by Morgan Freeman, in one scene suggests that rather than a story about destruction and wrath, the Flood is a story about relationships, how couples and families stuck together. How cute. Except that it isn't about that at all, it is about God wiping away a humanity that does not know right from wrong, does not worship, and does great wickedness. Yes, death and destruction and wrath. You can't really get around the fact that these things are there in the story, even if we water it down (no pun intended) for children's sunday school classes. And then the "flood" comes in the movie, and no one raises the question of how much waste, chaos, disorder, and probably death is involved in the movie's disaster. The little plot hint here is that the destruction only carried the ark from point A to point B; but if this is the case no ark was needed and certainly all the trees God killed to get Evan to build, and all the properties God destroyed in the process render God an outrageously inconsiderate guy. One reporter at the end says something like, "what will we do with all these animals? God brought them, I guess God will have to take them back." Yeah, well, God just made his day a lot busier if he's expected to fix all the messes he's caused through the length of the movie; instead, he's just happy watching Evan spend some time with his family. This isn't God, this is Loki.

It's the lack of theological thought and the avoidance of ethical questions that ultimately bring this movie into the not-recommendable category. At about half-way through the movie there is enough issues and complications raised to weave into valuable lessons for the watcher about ecological issues, about stewarship or waste of resources (at the beginning of the movie Evan is depicted as driven by consumerism), about corruption, and about trusting God. These issues are dropped and avoided. God appears to be an idiot, preferring to make sure a dog can drink some water rather than impacting a system that destroys all his creation. Anyone with a theological mind will find this movie deplorable.

And this is a shame, talented directors like Tim Burton or Tom Tywer have made great movies with intensely theological issues that do not even pretend to be religious. Evan Almighty, with its massive church-based campaign (i was tagged to a pre-screening by being church-affiliated), is poisonous to our theological self-respect precisely because it pretends to be religiously relevant. Wouldn't these movies (Bruce and Evan) have been both funnier and stronger had they not involved God at all, but a psychological breakdown that turned out to have ethical and moral implications?

I am not a fan of Tom Shadyac's movies. I like movies with substance, or at least plotlines. I like to enter the imaginary world of the film and not be kicked out by a fundamental disconnect. I do not like movies that rely on slapstick or gag humor for their raison d'etre.

That said, I am a fan of Tom Shadyac, the person, because he puts his money, his time, and his talent where his conscience is. Shadyac's generosity toward one non-profit with which I work resulted in me holding 2 tickets to last night's private premiere of Evan Almighty in Charlottesville, VA. I went, because that's what one does when given such a gift. I expected to spend a painful 2 hours stretching my smile a la Jim Carrey as I manufactured compliments for the type of film I wouldn't normally rent, while cheerfully promoting my non-profit's concerns at the post-premiere bash.

To my amazement, I really enjoyed the movie. I didn't look down at my watch or wish I was somewhere else once throughout the entire viewing. Steve Carrell does an excellent job of slowly dialing back Evan Baxter's character so that he maintains a balance that one rarely sees in such comedies: The broader the humor of the situation, the more real his portrayal of Evan became. Therefore, the longer I watched, the more I did find myself entering the world of the film. The moral of the story--and there is one--is woven into the humor so that you don't mind watching it unfold, even though you can see it coming 10 minutes in. The climactic action scene is so well built up that even atheists will find themselves cheering for God--or at least Evan's Ark. Cinematically, it was a great ride to watch.

I spent a very pleasant post-premiere party genuinely praising a film that I thought I would dislike. Evan Almighty is not high art, but it is funny. It is not the best movie I have ever seen, but I would definitely watch it again. That is the first time I have said that about a Shadyac film.

Don't judge this movie by its predecessor. See it and enjoy it for itself.

It had a good message and had a barrage of small jokes throughout :fresh:

I enjoy anything that Steve Carrell is in. That being said, it is a fantastic twist that he is doing something less edgy than saaaay "40" or the Daily Show. Wow! A funny slapstick, physical comedian can put out a family (not children's - family) movie and actually afford the FAMILY a pleasent time at the movies. A decent movie with a message that isn't nearly as inyourface as "Oh God!". Or as self agrandizing as "Toys" or any other movie from Robin Williams with his wouldn'tlifebeswellifwewereallassociallyconsciousandlikableasME! attitude.

Evan Almighty is a good movie. Not great. Subtly funny in so many ways that the theater I was in had different pockets of people giggling at different times all during the movie. This is definitley a candidate for PopUp Video. AND there was applause at the end from the whole theatre.

With all the fight scenes, death and destruction of this summer BB movies, Spidey-3, Pirate-3, Oceans 13, etc., it was pleasent to see a movie with my FAMILY that was funny on my level, my preteens' level, and my 1st graders level that had a central message of "be nice for no reason". A hilarious movie? No. Funny. A family classic? No. A good movie for a good evening.

I'd like to make a commentary on the comentaries. Its too bad that whenever something comes out clean and lighthearted and entertaining for all the family, that you critics are so "above it all" that you can't just enjoy it. The story took us through a journey of faith, stepping out and doing something out of conviction knowing that others will laugh at you and put you down. O yea, thats right, I guess it got just a little too close to what it could be like to believe that there's really a God. That would be just too much an insult to one's intelligence. Well, I for one appreciated the story and am glad that I can actually take my kids to see it without having to cringe or appologize afterwards. The movie was funny and light, Steve Carrel showed more than just his comedic side. I would hope that I could be as brave as Evan someday, and not like the "lofty"whimps who have no backbone as to stand out and have an oppinion of their own.

Evan Almighty
RT Rating: 20%

C+

Movie Synopsis:The sequel will take the news anchor character Steve Carell played in "Bruce Almighty" and put him on an Almighty-inspired quest to build an ark in preparation for a great flood.

My Thoughts: I wasn't the least bit excited for the sequel to one of my favourite films, but I was there, prepared for the torture. The only reason I saw it this afternoon was for my love Wand Sykes. Lets take a moment to awknoledge the great comedic talents of her. Seriously she is a god, she is my life, hilarious! Makes anybad movie, instantly get at least a 4 from me. Well, most of the times. Anyways, Evan Almighty came under A LOT of heat for its ballooning budget, a comedy of biblical preportions, more like expensive. It's budget is almost 200 million dollars if im correct and will most likely make that.. only worldwide, it may not even turn a prophit. Evan surprised me though, it's a guilty pleasure thats for sure. When you see the ads you ask yourself were all the money went but then the films explain it, dozens of real/fake animal, huge well done flood, the commercials f/x are shitcompared to the film. In a way this film is a step up from the first, it condenced sothe laughs are more together but it is an obvious step down.

Carrel is bending over backwards to make it work, as Moses and he tries really hard. He isnt the best, he is kind of weak. His character worked as a supporting charatcer and nothing more which sadly leads to less intrest here and just his scenes from the first being really stretched out. Agian Wanda Sykes is hilarious, she makes my day just in one line. Back to Carrel, he has a few good laughs. This is a family film totally, the message, the heart, also a Global Warmng aspect, god forbid and it's decent, but still throw away as well.

I laughed out loud a good number of times and thought many scenes were poignant and sweet. Our group had a range of 14 to 55 year olds and all enjoyed the movie. I have seen a lot of garbage this year so this was a nice reprieve.