Evolution: The Musical!
Tags: satire

Plot synopsis:
The film begins in a church on the edge of a forest, which is home to "The Blesseds." Inside the church, Mary Catheter is requesting a trip outside the church. Father Catheter, her father and head priest of "The Blesseds," will not allow the request because he fears it will be too dangerous. Mary questions her father’s judgment, so Father Catheter and Mother Grizzard begin a hip-hop musical number, Who Begat on YouTube, about the lineage of The Blesseds (Creationism).
The focus of the narrative then turns to "The Beasties," who dwell in the forest near the church. A "Beastie" named Flippy asks another "Beastie," Wog Wog, how the Beasties came into existence. Wog Wog sings a song that depicts the history of their race (Evolution). At the conclusion of the song, Queen Bonobo, queen of "The Beasties," is informed that her husband, Chief Cranius, has been killed by "The Blesseds." "The Beasties" exit the forest in search of revenge.
Back at the church, Father Catheter explains to how he had gone into the woods, and killed the leader of "The Beasties." It is at this point that "The Beasties" burst into the church and attack. This is also when the love story between Mary and Wog Wog begins. The sequence ends with Queen Bonobo taking Mary hostage in retribution for killing their chief.
"The Blesseds" find "The Beasties" in the forest and the two groups close in on each other. But before they meet, Jesus (played by Sean Hayes), appears and persuades his followers not to choose a path of violence. "The Beasties" take advantage of this opportunity, and close in on "The Blesseds." At this point, Charles Darwin, appears and stops "The Beasties" in a similar fashion. The two groups make amends momentarily, but resume fighting when they see Jesus and Darwin fighting. Wog Wog and Mary flee to the ocean.

Review: not without humor. 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!. "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!. 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!