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Movie Review - 'The X-Files: I Want to Believe'
The X-Files: I Want to BelieveStarring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Amanda Peet
Directed by Chris Carter
Rated PG-13
There's definitely
wishful thinking in the title of the new X-Files movie. Ten years
after the first film and nearly a decade after the finale of the landmark
series we get
The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Fans who
have missed the show and even casual viewers who admired its constant risk
taking and envelope pushing probably want to believe. So did I.
For the better part of an hour, The X-Files delivers on its promise, and not surprisingly, it tapers off a little after that. This feels like an extended episode, which is not meant to slight the film at all, because for many years, this show was among television's best written dramas. But because of the dramatic weight of the story - which I'll go to great lengths not to spoil - I Want to Believe engages is a couple of subplots, neither particularly compelling, with one feeling as if it's added to address fan questions and the other that may have some allegorical connection to the main thrust of the plot, but which is unmasked as hokey pretty early on.
Still, there are certain bonds that can't be broken, and for whatever the past few years have done to the careers of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson individually, they're an indispensable team. The chemistry, almost automatic at the beginning of the series and more palpable the longer the show aired on Fox, is back in a heartbeat here. These two actors are very at home in the world of creator-director Chris Carter, and should there be more films, I would expect I'd be equally excited to see them.
But many years have passed since we last saw the intrepid investigators of the paranormal. Fox Mulder is more or less off the grid, as they say, and Dana Scully is now a surgeon at a Catholic hospital. But the FBI needs Mulder's help. They have been relying on a priest-turned-psychic (Billy Connolly) to assist them in a search for a missing agent. At first, the Bureau doesn't take Father Joe seriously. After all, he has a very shady past. But when he correctly unearths a severed arm in the middle of a snowy field in West Virginia, some of the agents want to believe, too.
The FBI wants to use Mulder's experience to help determine whether or not Father Joe is a crackpot. Could he have intimate knowledge of the case, or is God really speaking through him?
What it all means - the severed arm, the pieces of the mystery they uncover - is very gruesome stuff, actually, but it's also right up the alley of The X-Files. Carter places clues carefully, and takes us on a pretty taut intellectual journey. Even when you see more, you almost have to be told what it all means. There are mysteries where you know more than the characters, and that, as Hitchcock said, is what creates tension. But this works pretty well, too.
Carter has always had an exceptional eye for casting, and Billy Connolly is a superb choice as father Joe. He gets some mileage out of Xzibit and Amanda Peet as FBI agents on opposite sides of the coin, and even the tiniest of roles never seems out of joint with its surroundings.
As for the troublesome subplots, it does fit the structure of The X-Files to have concurrent storylines. That's not the problem. The problem is the way they're massaged into place here. They don't feel the least bit organic, but instead, very deliberate, as if there's some ground Carter didn't cover in the series and felt compelled to now. These pesky dead ends hobble an otherwise absorbing little detective story with two detectives I wouldn't mind seeing a dozen more times.
Colin Boyd
in Reviews, TV Adaptations, Sequels, X-Files, David Duchovny
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8 Comments
Reader Comments (8)
Well said. Especially the part about seeing them a dozen more times. I'd settle for one more gandiose alien wrap up movie though.
The chemistry between Mulder and Scully is what keeps me coming back for more and more. I think they belong together more than any other couple in the movies. I think if they make a 3rd movie, then Mulder needs to propose to Scully because they have been in love for 15 years now! Since they are out of the FBI now, they need to get married and try for another baby!
Its about time these two love birds get hooked up and investigate like they did in the 3rd and 4th seasons(i feel their best work)Bring back the Cancer Man and all the Conspiricies.No-One dies and Cris Carter doesnt want them to.
I thought the new "X-Files" movie was great, but I would love to see a thriller/mystery connected to alients/UFOs - that kind of thing, which most X-Files fans expect. I would like for them to do another movie and find some closure with Mulder's kidnapped sister. We really never learned exactly what happened to her - there were various theories out there in the TV series, but the show kind of ended with no real closure. And, I would like for Mulder and Scully to go back to the FBI as special consultants/agents and actually get married and have another baby. It's not natural to keep these 2 apart when they so clearly love each other. In this new movie, the writers put Mulder in a farmhouse away from the world - isolated - alone. I don't think that's what he would do at all. I think he would be continuing to investigate paranormal events on his own. He is obsessed with this. So, there was a little bit of nonbelievable moments in the movie. Plus, let us SEE some romantic scenes between Mulder and Scully. The kiss at the end of this movie was wonderful. Can we please see more?
This is just my opinion...
The last episode of the show was in May 2002. That is hardly 'nearly a decade after the finale.'
As a TRUE fan, I saw the movie & loved it. I am really, really hoping that they will continue to make films every couple of years. This could have the makings of a new Star Trek following--that made how many movies? It is about time to see some more love scenes with Mulder & Scully (the kiss at the end made me grin from ear to ear), along with bringing in Doggett, Reyes, & Krycek.
The problem was not the film, it was that it was released at a bad time. One week after 'The Dark Knight' is not NEARLY enough for this movie to survive. The first one was released mid-June & there was nothing else released that weekend. If you loved the television series as I did, see this movie & show support. I want to continue the Mulder/Scully storyline. Thank you.
Please let there be more movies !!! FOX executives, hear the plea from the die-hard fans who have been there since the beginning, whose love for the show never wavered !!! Reward the true fans !!! And Chris, keep the romantic scenes coming, more kisses, more love declarations, more bed scenes, afterwall we waited 15 years for them to finally be together...
I, for one, loved the movie. Not only did I jump quite a few times, but I also laughed and, well I never really cry at movies, but I did get sad/emotional at times. I also loved seeing Mulder and Scully together. And I loved the subplot of redemption for the characters, as well as for Father Joe. I really liked the case as well, but then again I always like the episodes where they dealt with psychics in the past, like "Beyond the Sea" and "The Final Repose of Clyde Bruckman." In my opinion they were some of the best episodes of the series. I was a little concerned when the movie seemed about to end with no real conclusion to the case, but it turned out it wasn't over yet and I got all the resolution I needed. Please, Mr. Carter. I so loved this movie and would love to see another one. I hope he realizes that The Dark Knight took a lot of its audience away, not to mention all the other big films released recently. There was a lot of competition. P.S. for those who were disappointed about the lack of mythology, Carter has said that if he makes a third one it will deal with mythology.