Movie review: X-Files: I Want To Believe (2008) by Mike

I wanted to believe that the newest X-Files movie was going to be awesome and mind-blowing, but instead experienced what amounted to a long-lost episode from the TV series.

And that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. I was a huge fan of the Fox hit and just seeing Fox Mulder and Dana Scully one more time is always welcomed.

But the the appeal for X-Files: I Want To Believe had to have been relegated to only fans of the show, and even some of them were likely disappointed. Heck, afterwards in the restroom, I overheard two buddies talking about it and one of them said, “…there was no black oil, no nothing…”

So even those guys appeared let down.

There were some things I enjoyed about the movie, but they were mostly focused on Gillian Anderson and the job she did portraying Scully. In fact, the title of the movie had more to do with Scully’s story than anything else.

And that was a welcomed change. So many times in the X-Files we would focus on Mulder and his mission to “find the truth”, while Scully tags along. But in I Want To Believe, she’s on her own, working at a children’s hospital and trying to heal a little boy. Sure, they interact, but Scully had her own spiritual war to wage.

At the same time that it was good to see her trying to believe in something other than aliens, it was also a problem with the movie that Mulder and Scully don’t exactly solve the mystery together. They were apart as much as they were together, and it felt “alienating”, no pun intended.

There was also a big time lack of humor from Mulder, which resulted in a slow-paced, dark and dramatic movie that could have used a some good laughs.

Writers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz clearly wanted to tell us what has happened with our two heroes from the television series, and indeed we get some surprises and updates along the way. And while the main story arc involving a psychic and a dismembered arm is actually kind of interesting and gross, it was nothing more than a TV episode blown up for the big screen.

Someone I heard recently said this and I agree with them: Carter ruined this amazing series by not giving the fans an ending that satisfied all the time devoted to these two FBI agents. And that lack of a conclusion resulted in a first movie that was good, but not wholly satisfying, and now this latest edition feels distant and without purpose.

If you love the show, then you likely have to go see this. But if you never watched it, I really can’t find much worth recommending here.

Mike’s Rating: 6 Sunflower Seeds out of 10