FeedsNot X-actly
Film doesn’t measure up to pre-release publicity
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The X-Files may disappoint long-time fans.As The X-Files: I Want to Believe headed to the theaters last weekend, the iconic characters bolstered claims that you can’t go home.
The filmmakers tried—and failed—to live up to the hype.
When the eerie strains of otherworldly music filled the theater, filmgoers familiar with the series recalled the series in its heyday as FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) sought to validate his beliefs in the paranormal—from alien abductions to mythical monsters—by finding the truth in the events. His openness to all things weird and wondrous was countered by the inherent skepticism of his partner, FBI agent and medical doctor Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who strove with equal determination to find rational, scientific grounds to explain and debunk the seemingly paranormal roots of the cases deemed X-Files.
As the film opens, the duo are asked to step in on an FBI case involving a missing agent by Assistant Special Agent in Charge Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet). She cajoles the two to take on a new X-File because, she says, their unique experiences could make them the only ones capable of rescuing the missing woman.
A lot has changed since X-Files fans last saw Mulder and Scully together in the 2002 cliffhanger that marked the end of the television series, however. The passage of time has inexorably changed both of the former partners as introspection and the aftereffects of their experiences have left them battling their own demons.
The new case, which involves disgraced priest Father Joseph Fitzpatrick Crissman (Billy Connolly), ultimately fans the flames of the questions and concerns both Mulder and Scully have long fought as the film explores the ramification of choices and their consequences, the boundary between science and religion wavers and shifts, and the line between using science for good and for evil is tested.
Those unfamiliar with the characters or the series needn’t worry. The new movie, which was designed as a thriller as much as a science fiction film, was created to stand alone so that audiences need not have any prior knowledge to be drawn into the story.
Although it raises some interesting issues, the film fails to fully capitalize on two of its greatest assets: Duchovny and Anderson.
Their acting is arguably better than ever and both offer stellar performances that far outshine the so-so editing and that is complemented by amazing cinematography. Presumably with the intention of granting the film a greater cinematic presence, the movie focuses much of its attention on the discretely implied horrors the victim witnesses. Unfortunately, the rapid switches between scenes and clichéd thrills do little to enhance the film and the plot itself is less innovative than series regulars might expect.
It is a halfway decent thriller in and of itself, but fans of the series may find that it feels more like a particularly dark episode of the television series with extra footage frantically crammed into it, than a smoothly flowing feature-length film.
Written by X-Files veterans Frank Spotniz and Chris Carter and directed by series creator Carter, The X-Files: I Want to Believe also featured performances by Mitch Pileggi, who reprised his role as FBI honcho Walter Skinner, as well as by Xzibit as dour FBI Agent Mosley Drummy. The film is rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing content and thematic materials.
