Evolution (2001 film)
Evolution is a 2001 American comic science fiction film directed by Ivan Reitman. It stars David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Julianne Moore, and Ted Levine. It was released by DreamWorks Pictures in the United States and by Columbia Pictures internationally. The plot of the film follows college professor Ira Kane and geologist Harry Block, who investigate a meteorite crash in Arizona. They discover that the meteorite harbors extraterrestrial life, which is evolving very quickly into large, diverse and outlandish creatures.
Evolution was based on a story by Don Jakoby, who turned it into a screenplay along with David Diamond and David Weissman. The film was originally written as a serious science fiction film, until director Reitman re-wrote much of the script. Shooting took place from October 19, 2000 to February 7, 2001 in California and Page, Arizona, with an $80 million budget, and the film was released in the United States on June 8, 2001. The film grossed $98.4 million internationally. A short-lived animated series, , loosely based on the film, was broadcast months after the film was released.
Plot
Wayne Grey, a trainee firefighter practicing in a shack in the desert near Glen Canyon, Arizona, sees a meteor strike his car and land in a cavern.College professor Ira Kane and his colleague, geology Professor Harry Block, investigate, taking a sample of strange blue liquid that oozes from it. Ira discovers that it harbors extraterrestrial single-celled nitrogen-based organisms multiplying exponentially, condensing millions of years of evolution within a matter of hours. The next day, they take the science class to survey the meteorite site and find it already surrounded by evolved oxygen-converting fungi and alien flatworms. Ira and Harry discover that the cells and organisms reproduce rapidly through mitosis after seeing one of the flatworms they collected in a jar split into two.
Soon, the site is sealed off by the Army, who set up a base. Ira and Harry take General Russell Woodman and the clumsy Dr. Allison Reed to court for the right to be part of the research of their discovery, but their efforts fail when it's revealed Ira was discharged from the army after creating an anthrax vaccine that led to terribly debilitating side effects, which the soldiers dubbed "The Kane Madness". Woodman steals Ira and Harry's research, forcing them to infiltrate the base to get another sample; they find an alien rainforest teeming with life. They are caught by Allison as a mosquito-like alien gets inside Harry's body; they are forced to rectally remove the mosquito, which then dies.
Wayne arrives at the college and shows the two the dead body of an amphibian alien which killed a country club owner, much to his delight; they later investigate an animal attack, finding a dead dog-like alien in a woman's home and more dead flatworms. They find a valley behind the home filled with dead dragon-like aliens; Ira and Harry theorize the aliens are spreading through the caves connected to the main cavern, but cannot breathe oxygen. One of the dying creatures spits out a pod containing a newborn, which then hatches into an oxygen-tolerant alien. The alien attacks a mall, where it carries off a shoplifter until Ira, Harry, and Wayne shoot it down.
are referenced in the film.
Unfortunately, other alien encounters have made the news; this forces the Governor of Arizona to demand answers. Allison explains that the aliens will engulf the United States in two months. Woodman attempts to blame Ira when he, Harry and Wayne arrive. However, the governor demands a solution; Woodman suggests evacuating the area and burning the aliens with napalm. At that moment, primate-like aliens attack them, but are fought off. The shaken governor approves Woodman's plan against protests from Ira and Allison that they don't know how the aliens will react. Allison quits the CDC and leaves the site, procuring Ira's original research and samples for him.
At the college, Harry accidentally tosses a match into a Petri dish of alien liquid, causing a mass of flesh to rapidly grow from it. Ira realizes heat causes the aliens to evolve, and the meteor crashing to earth activated the alien DNA. Allison attempts to warn Woodman that napalm will only make the aliens stronger, but he ignores her call. Looking at the positions of nitrogen and carbon on the periodic table, Ira theorizes that selenium might be poisonous to the aliens, since they are nitrogen-based, as arsenic is poisonous to Earth's carbon life. Much to Ira's surprise, his dumbest students Deke and Danny recall that selenium sulfide is the active ingredient in Head & Shoulders. This makes Ira award the Donald brothers with an A, much to their excitement. So Wayne procures a firetruck and the team fills it with the shampoo, with help from the Donald Brothers, who tag along with them.
Just as the team arrives at the cave and prepare to fire the shampoo, Woodman's napalm strike causes a similar reaction to the earlier Petri dish incident, except on a much larger scale, producing an enormous amoeba-like creature that emerges to the surface. As it prepares to divide, the team drives under the organism, finds what looks like its rectal hole, and Harry pumps a firehose of shampoo into the beast, causing it to explode. Governor Lewis declares Ira, Harry, Wayne and Allison heroes, making Wayne a fully credentialed firefighter while Ira and Allison skip the festivities for sex in the fire truck. Woodman is also demoted to sergeant for his blunder. Later, Harry, Ira and Wayne are shown chasing the flying alien from earlier and promoting Head & Shoulders for both hair care and fighting aliens.
Cast
- David Duchovny as Colonel Dr. Ira Kane
- Julianne Moore as Dr. Allison Reed
- Orlando Jones as Professor Harry Phineas Block
- Seann William Scott as Wayne Grey
- Ted Levine as General Russell Woodman
- Ethan Suplee as Deke Donald
- Michael Bower as Danny Donald
- Pat Kilbane as Officer Sam Johnson
- Ty Burrell as Colonel Flemming
- Dan Aykroyd as Governor Lewis
- Katharine Towne as Nadine
- Gregory Itzin as Barry Cartwright
- Ashley Clark as Lieutenant Cryer
- Stephanie Hodge as Jill Mason
Soundtrack
The film's music score was composed by John Powell, conducted by Gavin Greenaway, and performed by the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra. A soundtrack album was released on June 12, 2001 and is available on Varèse Sarabande.| Title | Artist | Written by |
| Bombshell | Powerman 5000 | Mike Tempesta and Michael Cummings |
| Out with a Bang | Matt Mahaffey | Matt Mahaffey |
| Anyway the Main Thing Is | Patty Larkin | Patty Larkin |
| Borderline | Buckcherry | Josh Todd, Jonathan 'JB' Brighman, Keith Nelson and Devon Glenn |
| Baby, Come On Over | Samantha Mumba | Samantha Mumba, Arnthor Birgisson and Anders Bagge |
| Work It Out | Brassy | Muffin Spencer, Stefan Gordon, Jonny Barrington and Karen Frost |
| Makin' Whoopee | Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn | Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn |
| Parking Lot | Morgan Nagler | Morgan Nagler |
| You Are So Beautiful | Bruce Fisher, Billy Preston | Bruce Fisher, Billy Preston |
| Play That Funky Music | Wild Cherry | Rob Parissi |