With a massive reported budget of $175 million, Evan Almighty will be extremely hard-pressed to recover its costs at the box office. Although I enjoyed Bruce Almighty, it certainly wasn’t a picture that demanded a sequel (that original star Jim Carrey opted to pass on this project should have been a clear sign that a follow-up was ill-advised). To make matters worse, the original premise of the first film has been completely discarded to make way for a truly bizarre plot that not only lacks laughs, but feels far too preachy at times. Carell does what he can with his role, and to his credit, he performs a small miracle in his own right. Despite a toothless family-oriented screenplay by Steve Oedekerk that abandons the edgier material of the first film, Carell does manage to deliver a few amusing bits of comedy early on, but as the film progresses, he is lost amidst all the special effects and an increasingly ridiculous costume. Equally frustrating is the tragically underused supporting cast featuring Wanda Sykes, Lauren Graham, John Goodman, Jonah Hill (someone get this guy his own starring vehicle immediately), and Molly Shannon among others.

Evan Almighty could have been a fine comedy. There’s certainly no lack of talent attached to the film. Unfortunately, the movie quickly collapses under the weight of its own grand scale, and despite the efforts of Carell and a wasted supporting cast, we are left with an overblown CGI spectacle in search of more laughs.