DAVID Duchovny thought he'd left alien-busting behind when he left The X-Files.

But along came film-maker Ivan Reitman and handed the 40-year-old actor the script for Evolution.

"Ivan just basically said, 'I want you to do this movie' and handed me this script," recalls Duchovny. "I walked out of his office thinking, 'Yeah I wanted to do a movie before I went back to finish my last year of X-Files."

But at home when he opened the script he found it was about a couple of professors who discover that a meteorite, which lands in the Arizona desert, contains protoplasm that gives rise to - aliens.

What changed his mind about doing the film was that Ghostbusters director Reitman had turned a potential sci-fi thriller into a comedy.

Here, college professors Ira Kane (Duchovny) and Harry Block (Orlando Jones) are the first men on the scenewhen a meteorite falls to Earth, crashing into a vast underground cavern.

They discover one-celled organisms on the surface of the giant rock.

The army moves in to quarantine the site, establishing a scientific facility under the jurisdiction of Dr Allison Reed (Julianne Moore).

Security is tight, but Ira and Harry break into the facility accompanied by trainee fireman Wayne Green (Seann William Scott), whose car was destroyed by the meteorite.

To the trio's horror, the single-celled organisms have developed into weird and wondrous plants and animals.

The cavern is soon teeming with extra-terrestrial flora and fauna but, as the mini-evolution continues, more deadly species begin to emerge.

Directed with tongue-firmly-in-cheek by Ivan Reitman, Evolution is a light-hearted romp buoyed by lively performances and dazzling special effects.

Duchovny sends up his X-Files alter-ego a treat, railing against government conspiracies. He plays everything completely deadpan, unlike Jones and Scott who milk every laugh from the script.