The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Maybe I should start off saying that I am an X-Files fan. I’m a casual fan, not an 'X-Phile' as some are dubbed. I also liked Mulder over Scully, because how many supernatural things do you have to experience before you start giving Mulder the benefit of the doubt? When it came to X-File episodes, there were three categories. The first was the mythology installments that told of alien conspiracies and government cover-ups. The second was the horror-style suspense episodes that were pretty dark and grisly. The third was the light-hearted mystery, which still dealt with supernatural occurrences but had plenty of humour to keep things from getting too serious. My favourite episodes fit in the third category, ones like “Hollywood AD”, “Bad Blood”, “Arcadia” and “Humbug”. Now ten years ago there was an X-Files movie that adhered to the first category called Fight the Future. It fit right in between Season 5 and Season 6. It dealt with aliens, governments, bees, and the Arctic. Now, we have X-Files: I Want to Believe. This one is of the suspense nature. Here’s hoping if they do another movie, it’ll be the third kind. It doesn’t look likely though considering the mere five people in the theatre with my dad and me as we watched the film.

I’m guessing if this movie came out a year after the series finale, it probably would have done better; maybe even get a Sex in the City-type response. Many people wonder why it took this long for the movie to come out; six years after the series ended is quite a long time in media years. Well, let’s just say there was some money disputes between 20th Century Fox and creator Chris Carter. Regardless, six years have past, even in X-Files years, and we are reunited with Mulder and Scully as a new case has popped up involving psychic powers and the visions of a ranting priest who is in a halfway house for pedophiles. Paranormal and religion: the cornerstone of many X-Files episodes. This film is a stand-alone. If you never watched X-Files, you might still enjoy the suspense thriller aspect and come to like the characters. For die-hard fans, there are a bunch of references to episodes past for you to delight in. But the best reason to watch X-Files: I Want to Believe is to reunite with Mulder and Scully. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson know their characters inside and out. They don’t miss a beat. And they know how to act. There’s no mugging for the camera or giving a wink to their audience, they are fully immersed in their roles. Seeing the chemistry between these two brings me back to the show, before Mulder left and Dogget took over.

My biggest problem with X-Files: I Want to Believe is that Chris Carter doesn’t use the size of a feature film to its full capacity. The movie looks too much like a television show. There are maybe three shots that use widescreen well and are too complicated to put into an hour-long drama. Funny enough, these are mostly snow scenes. Fight the Future used a bunch of snow as well. I guess Carter likes the stark white to contrast with the mostly under-exposed filming. This film is way too dark at times, both camera-wise and content-wise. I also didn’t find myself engrossed in the story. I wished it was a little lighter. I didn’t mind Billy Connolly (Fido, Lemony Snicket) as the psychic priest but Amanda Peet (Studio 60, Saving Silverman) and Xzibit (Pimp my Ride) as FBI agents were useless. I didn’t buy their performances at all. I was relieved to see an X-Files character of the past reemerge near the end of the film. Would have like to have seen him a bit earlier.

This film is definitely one to rent or check out on TV. Like I said, it just didn’t have the cinematic quality needed in a feature film. If you want to watch X-Files: I Want to Believe as a suspense/thriller, you’ll be pretty entertained. It would be nice to see some lighter stand-alone movies from X-Files franchise, since I do enjoy watching Mulder and Scully mix it up, but I have this feeling that their lack of box-office will thwart that idea. No big mystery there.