The fact of the matter is I was never a huge “X-Files” fan.  Oh, I’d watch the show if it was on and I had nothing else to do (that stupid circus episode still gives me the creeps just thinking about it), but as far as appointment television goes this nine season cult hit never really did it for me. 

Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) are still looking for the truth in 20th Century Fox's The X-Files: I Want to Believe

All that said, I loved the 1998 movie, The X-Files: Fight the Future, and I also think that stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson had arguably the best on-screen chemistry in the history of modern network television. So while I say I wasn’t a fan that doesn’t mean I didn’t fully appreciate what creator Chris Carter and the rest of his team accomplished, both series and movie things everyone involved should feel more than proud of.

In all honesty, I’m not sure any of them are going to feel the same about revisiting their old stomping grounds with The X-Files: I Want to Believe. While the chemistry between the stars is as palpable and stirring as ever, there is an inert laziness to Carter and Frank Spotnitz’s script bordering on the inexcusable. Worse, in their attempts to craft a stand-alone motion picture requiring no knowledge of either the show or the previous movie they’ve instead assembled a storyline so second rate I dare so FOX would have refused to air it.

Good thing Carter doesn’t phone it in on the directorial side, because if he had then he would have really been in trouble. Thankfully, the man shows a lot of promise behind the camera. There are moments of real tension in this sequel, and as silly and overly melodramatic as the mystery at its core gets there is something about the almost metronomic deliberation of the pace he sets I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it.

Granted, a great deal of the credit for that is due to Duchovny and Anderson. Neither actor has ever found the fame (or the acclaim) they received for portraying these two dogged FBI agent looking for truths one desperately needed to believe and the other just as vigorously wanted to deny. They are, in a word, magnificent, and as asinine as some of it gets (brain surgery plus Google equals downright lunacy) somehow these two make it all almost believable.

I’m not going to talk about the plot other than give you the basics. While I wasn’t particularly impressed with the rather gruesome mystery at the center of all this that doesn’t mean I should spoil it for those intending on seeing it. Just know that Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) have been out of the FBI for almost a decade, but when an agent goes missing under highly unusual circumstances the Bureau makes the decision to bring the both of them back – baggage and all – to help in the investigation. Cue the signature theme music.

Personally, as impressed as I was with bits and pieces of this movie on the whole I can’t help but claim to be more than a tad disappointed. Ten years after the last picture and six since the show’s cancellation and this is the best Carter and Spotnitz could come up with? A random missing persons plotline that wouldn’t seem all that out of place or unusual on a random episode of “C.S.I.” or “Bones?” I expected more. Worse, I wanted more, so maybe this somewhat morose disappointment I felt is more my fault then it is the filmmakers. 

Unfortunately, I don’t think so. As good as elements are and as superbly as the stars continue to be the truth is that The X-Files: I Want to Believe just isn’t out there enough to make itself worthwhile. If this series does continue and another feature ends up being made, here’s hoping third times a charm and both Mulder and Scully get the satisfying sendoff they richly deserve.

Film Rating: êê1/2 (out of 4)

Additional Links

-  The X-Files: I Want to Believe Review by Keith Helinski
-  The X-Files: I Want to Believe Theatrical Trailer
-  The X-Files: Fight the Future Theatrical Trailer