On The X-Files: I Want To Believe

The X-Files: I Want To Believe

Fox Mulder: "Let's just say that I want to believe."

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing content, and Mulder and Scully spooning.

Staring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet and Billy Connolly

I wanted to believe (I bet you will be hard pressed to find a review that doesn't include that phrase) that this would be the X-Files movie fans of the show were waiting for. One that would perhaps bring about the rebirth of the franchise, perhaps in a movie form. I myself was a large fan of the show and have been looking forward to this movie for six years, since the show went off the air. It was great to revisit Scully and Mulder again, but, if you are looking for any update on the other characters of the show besides them, the movie is lacking and apart from a brief cameo by Assistant Director Skinner, played by Mitch Pileggi, you may find it a little disappointing. The filmmakers did say that they wanted this film to be a "stand alone" movie, but there are just too many references and situations that point to the TV show, so it does not really work. Instead, it points to further to the mythology behind the series, and the relationships that developed between the characters there, which may be confusing for someone who had a life didn't watch show on a weekly basis.

Now the movie's plot really isn't so bad, but ironically it may have worked better without the X-Files tie in. Indeed, it seemed that Mulder and Scully were rather forcibly interjected into the film, so throughout the movie, I had the impression they were kind of out of place. Thats not to say that the plot was without flaw, for I had issue with a couple points. One, the paranormal catalyst that prompts the FBI to seek out Mulder and Scully, a psychic ex-priest Father Joseph Crissman, played by Billy Connolly, is rather unimpressive and there is almost no supernatural content to the movie at all, which normally wouldn't be an issue with most movie goers, but it is an X-Files movie, so it only adds to the feeling that the two former agents are misplaced and really don't belong in the story. Another, is that the writers of the film, Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, seemed to, again almost forcibly, include several of societies current hot-button topics, and interweave them into the story line. This includes a pedophile homosexual catholic priest (Billy Connolly's Character), the topic of gay marriage, and stem cell research, which Scully apparently learns all about after studying it on the internet and is amazingly able to perform an experimental medical procedure.



The movie begins with the FBI probing a field in search of a body that had appeared to Crissman in a vision; the scene being intermingled with the apparent capture of a woman; an FBI agent named Monica Banan. The search eventually produces a buried severed arm and next, we quickly find ex-special agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), now Dr. Scully, working at a hospital with a young boy with a serious degenerative brain condition. She is approached by Agent Mosley Drummy, played by Xzibit, who inquires of Fox Mulder's (David Duchovny) whereabouts. Mulder, however, is in hiding; being the subject of an ongoing murder investigation and manhunt. However, Mosley makes it clear charges will be dropped if Mulder will only help with the investigation, his expertise greatly desired due to the paranormal undertones of the case. Mulder eventually agrees and the two former agents are taken to Washington DC, where we meet Agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet), and get a rather strange, out of place crack at George W. Bush, which features the X-Files theme (written by Mark Snow) implying what I do not know? That He is an alien perhaps? Anyhoo, we find that it was Agent Whitney's idea to bring Mulder into the case, the duo meets with the psychic former priest, who Scully immediately becomes at odds with right off the bat, and the investigation begins. The movie from there on gets more and more uncomfortable, giving us glimpses into Mulder and Scully's awkward pseudo-relationship, with no real insight into it and Scully's new profession as a doctor and its trials, which reach no solid conclusion.


My conclusion after watching this film is this. It didn't blow me out of the water like I had hoped, but it did have its moments. The acting was ok, the cinematography was great, the music terrific as well, but honestly the movie would have been better without Mulder and Scully, which being a fan of the X-Files is hard for me to say, but it is true. It was suspenseful and did keep me entertained, yet I don't buy it that this was a stand alone movie, for there are too many questions raised and not answered in the movie, concerning the series. The movie does work in its creepiness and gross out factor, which is a cornerstone of the X-Files franchise, so it has that going for it as well.

Have we seen the last of the X-Files? I don't know, but what I do know is that the answer to that question may be effected by the unfortunate date of release for the film, which coincided with the domestic release of The Dark Knight, so business for the movie wasn't exactly booming. Surely, Fox could have done a lot better concerning that.

After careful consideration and review and despite my strong devotion to the breakthrough 90's TV show; I have to give this movie only 2 out of 4 x's. Sorry David, guess you could alway do a Kalifornia 2.