X-Files was great! AKA: What's wrong with people?

I have been pumped for this one for awhile. Ever since I heard there was a new X-Files film dropping this summer I have been giddy with anticipation. I purposely avoid anything more than the trailers I happen to catch on television and stay the fuck away from any internet articles discussing the film. I don't care what anyone has to say on the subject of this movie before I see it. Period. I have friends mentioning, "It's not getting very good reviews." I hear this MORE than a few times. None of these people have seen the movie yet either I should mention, it's not even out yet. The little lady and I clear our busy schedules and catch an early matinée Saturday morning. Let me say, we are both pretty big X-Files fans. I think there are 2 types of fans for the show. On one side you have the people who loved the underlying political plot that spanned across all seasons of the show and into the last theatrical film [I am on this side of the fence]. And you have fans who preferred the "stand alone" episodes where Mulder and Scully chased a Chupacabra around. I Want To Believe is supposed to resemble the latter in terms of how they approached this film. It's stand alone and doesn't deal with any of the old subplot stuff from the show, such as "Smoking man", etc. It's just as if they picked up the show for one last episode 10 years after the last film.



[Spoilers]

So, I enter the theater with some caution in the back of my mind, planted by all the negative things I had heard. This quickly dissolves as the intro music plays. The film opens in the very snowy backwoods of West Virginia [pause for West Virginia jokes] juxtaposing between a woman's abduction by some guys and a psychic leading the FBI to a severed arm from said abduction. Agent Whitney [Amanda Peet] who seems to have a fascination with the X-Files and particularly Mulder, attempts to track him down and bring him into the case. They are apparently unable to find him and go through Scully to do so. We see that much time has passed and Mulder is bearded and and attempting to live off the grid and Scully is in and out of a relationship with him dealing with her own problems in her medical practice. We get a couple nods to the original series and the quirks of Mulder and the film is off and running.

I feel that Chris Carter and Fox made a BIG mistake when they continued the series after the first film. I think keeping the series on TV quenched any thirst the public had for X-Files, so further films wouldn't have quite the punch they might have had otherwise. They should've stuck with the Star Trek model. If it ain't broke don't fix it. It was extremely nostalgic to see these characters together again though and the film really felt like a new episode of the show. The pacing and tone were all there. The setup was short and sweet and just as much of the main plot was the story of Scully and Mulder and what's become of them. They had incredible chemistry on the TV series and it's as if they never quit. It's almost better in some ways since they obviously have the sexual tension out of the way. Gillian Anderson looks incredible and more attractive than she ever was on the series in my opinion and Duchovny hasn't aged much either. Despite their characters appearing to be out of practice, the actors portraying them fit right back into character with no problem whatsoever.

Back to the plot. Mulder is assisting the FBI in handling a [child molesting] psychic they are using to try and find an agent who has recently gone missing. Mulder wants Scully around as he thinks she has something to offer on this case. Mulder, being reluctant to work with the FBI again quickly becomes obsessed with the case and Scully is reminded of why they quit doing this in the first place. The FBI is growing impatient with "Father Joe" [the psychic] and beginning to lose faith in him, but Mulder believes his story and is trying to piece it together for himself. They end up finding more bodies and more questions. Mulder ends up getting himself in knee-deep and needs Scully to help get him out of it. I know, it sounds just like an episode of the show, which is why it was fucking awesome. I don't want to give any more of the plot away. I will say it is up there with the Peacock Family episode in terms of how twisted it was. There's no fucking aliens, the only paranormal aspect to the film is Father Joe and what gave him his psychic ability [also twisted]. It all leads up to an awesome finale and includes an awesome cameo.

What really perplexes me is the poor reviews. There is no fucking green screen or CG luck dragons in this movie? No shit? So, I went to a couple of sites to glance at what people are saying:

Really Michelle? Ten years too late? Maybe because it was ten years ago since the last film?! And the fact you can't watch a movie with snow in the summer tells me all I need to know about how fucking retarded you are.



Wow. Sign me up for your newsletter, fucktard.


This movie is completely "X-Files". Wonderfully shot, wonderfully paced and has a bizarre twisted plot. It comes at a time when everything is either a big budget CG shitfest or a flick audience tested into oblivion. It's a great mystery/suspense film that happens to be an X-Files movie. If you want so see more of them, go buy a ticket and see it in the theater.