THE PLOT THUS FAR
The feature film The X-Files: I Want to Believe is a satisfying if unspectacular installment in the X-Files series, taking place an unspecified time after the show’s nine-year television run. Former agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is now a doctor, while Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is being hunted by his former agency and living in seclusion. He and Scully are summoned back by a case involving a missing agent and a former priest (Billy Connolly) who claims to be able to see clues to the agent’s whereabouts psychically, though his initial search turns up only a severed limb. Don’t expect the usual cast of characters; the FBI has completely turned over (except for the George W. Bush portrait), and the only reason Scully and Mulder are back is because agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) remembers his success on similar cases involving the unexplainable. Don’t expect the same rogues’ gallery either; unlike the previous X-Files feature film, which was inextricably linked to the series’ convoluted mythology arc (and served as a bridge between the fifth and sixth seasons), I Want to Believe is a stand-alone piece that makes use of the series’ roots in horror/sci-fi and moody Vancouver, B.C., locales. Also unlike the previous film, which was almost self-consciously shot for the big screen, this film is on a smaller scale, like a double-length episode of the series. But it’s still a good reminder of the creepy vibe that hooked fans for years. And the relationship between Mulder and Scully? It seems to have resumed pretty much where it left off, at least when you take into account the long period of separation. But stick around for the end-credit sequence to take in all the possibilities for the future.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
Much like the first theatrical outing for Mulder and Scully, this will disappoint some for what it is not, and others for what it actually is. It is very much the type of stand-alone story which used to be squeezed between the conspiracy and mythology episodes. The problem presented by the avenue chosen by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz is that after so many years have passed, fans aching for what The X-Files did best will be confronted by a dreary and snowy low-key and intimate story which while excellent on its own, is not what fans had anticipated.
That being said, I do believe, however, after the initial shock, and perhaps after a second viewing, fans will embrace it for Carter’s courage to once again fly in the face of the powers that be and tell an often creepy stand-alone story showing how the darkness always found Mulder and Scully, and how it was having each other to lean on which helped each keep their faith. It is almost as if this is a segue to something more on the horizon. For even within the confines of a story which does not deal in the slightest manner with any of the X-Files mythology fans have hungered for, there are portents.
Beginning with both Mulder and Scully leading very different lives than those we came to know, Carter uses the darkness to bring them back together. It is a kidnapped F.B.I. Agent and a Bureau ready to forgive Mulder for his many indiscretions if only he will help work with the psychic who may or may not be genuine which starts things rolling. Scully’s need to help a young boy with an incurable disease and the relationship of our favorite F.B.I. couple, even though neither works for the Bureau anymore, gets as much screen time as the premise, which is like a creepy episode rather than a feature film.
Duchovny and Anderson are still fabulous together, perhaps even more so in a somber and low-key outing such as this. The intimacy and history of the couple is what the film is about, and how faith can be restored even amidst the darkness which always found them, and sometimes kept them apart. This really plays better as a small screen episode of the show, but because we have missed Mulder and Scully for so long, it gets an A.
There are references to Mulder’s sister, the alien abduction which haunted and drove him in his quest for the truth. It is a story line we thought wrapped up. Now that is unclear. Carter did say in an interview about the film that no one ever really dies for good on the show. And though the film itself has dealt in absolutely no way at all with X-Files mythology, what should show up as a background to the closing credits? Black oil, that’s what. And it ain’t Texas tea. It is worth seeing if only for a very touching and tender moment between Mulder and Scully near the end. It is the kind of intimate conversation which made the show better than anything else we got to watch during its long run.
The Blu-Ray levels the DVD playing field. There’s reference quality Visuals coupled with ground-shaking audio. You get a new Picture in Picture commentary that is insanely interesting. But, it’s mostly a straight content port from the DVD. It doesn’t matter. It’s still a Blu-Ray that belongs in your home theater.
