X-Files: Creer es la clave

The X-Files, one of the most famous television shows that ended in 2002, had a movie in 2000, just came out with a sequel. To be honest, I was wondering why, I know that there are still fans that are shaking to see their favorite agents back, but the story was weak and felt like another episode, just an extended one. Now I did enjoy The X-Files series, I also did like the first X-Files film, so I felt like maybe this was going to be big and have an exciting story, but instead we have just another episode that is trying to have the Saw edge and gross people out. We also have some added characters that are just weak, for example Xzibit as a one dimensional character who is just flat and typical, also, it's Xzibit, I don't know what casting director was thinking "he's perfect", no offense to this guy, but he should stick to his day job. David and Gillain are also off track and don't have the same chemistry as they did in the series.

Fox Mulder has been requested back by the FBI to help them with a case of missing female FBI agents, he meets a priest/pedophile/psychic who is also helping the FBI out with the case. Dana Scully has decided to stay with her current career as a doctor who is struggling to save a little boy's brain disease. But Fox wants her back in work with him and together they discover the darker world that is happening with these missing FBI agents and the Russian black market.

The X Files: I Want to Believe is over all not a bad movie by any means, but it's at this point that it seems like the writers were not even trying. Also with David and Gillain, I like to call this movie The X Files: I Want a Paycheck, because they just didn't put their hearts into this and you can tell very much, I thought David hated the series, you think he would have been more stubborn or at least would have read the script first before the paycheck. As far as for the fans, I'd recommend that you just do the matinée, it's not a full price ticket movie, it's just an extended episode, the ending is anti-climatic and this was just pointless.

5/10

This is the second X-FILES movie, made a decade after the first and a good six years after the series finally ended on television. In many respects, it feels like nothing more than extended episode; gone is the government conspiracy stuff, to be replaced with a stand-alone storyline involving psychics and FRANKENSTEIN-style experiments that recalls the good old days of the early seasons. Many fans were disappointed that the underlying alien stuff was dismissed for this film, but I didn't mind it at all. If they made films like this every couple of years, I'd be happy.

As a piece of entertainment, it isn't entirely satisfying, although I found it watchable enough. The plot is meandering in places – especially during the mid section – and the low budget readily apparent in some cheesy effects scenes (such as where we see someone falling). However, the relationship between Mulder and Scully is spot on, and the script allows for plenty of soul-searching between the two leads. Duchovny effortlessly slides back into his character, although Anderson fails to convince in some of her dialogue sequences (although her emotional stuff with a child patient is spot on).

Kudos, too, for eliciting a good performance from Billy Connolly, who bags a fantastic role as a priest-turned-paedophile-turned-psychic. I never thought I'd see somebody like Connolly give a quiet, mannered, understated turn, but he does that here. Amanda Peet is fine as another investigator, and even Xzibit convinces as a 'real' actor. It's great to see Mitch Pileggi make a cameo, too.

It's not an amazing film, and much of it is familiar stuff done numerous times in more successful episodes, but I enjoyed THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE on nostalgic terms alone. It recalls the glory days of when the show was unmissable entertainment, the best thing on the box, and that's some achievement

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a trailer for this movie a while back. I always enjoyed the show when I caught it on TV, except when it got really stupid towards the end (Mulder dies, then is buried in a coffin and is then dug up again and is alive--Excuse me?). Given that, I was happy to catch up with Scully and Mulder. It had been six years. Six years. Six years for the shows creators to come up with a script worthy of the legacy of the show. NOT! What a piece of doo-doo. This wouldn't have cut it as a two part episode during season eight. What were they thinking? That show had some of the best writing and directing in the history of television. Part of the joy of watching that show was that it was so much like a movie. Every week you got to watch an incredibly engrossing mini-movie. I felt bad for the actors. They looked slightly embarrassed to be there. Imagine having read the script, knowing it was a dog, and then having to do it and not be able to tell the writer, "You know, Chris, this really sucks..." because he's the big honcho and gave you your big break seventeen years ago. This is supposed to be a movie. Movies are supposed to be BIG. This seemed chintzy. It felt like a rip-off. Six years! If they weren't going to do it right, why did they do it at all? During the movie, my friend, who is not really a big fan of X-Files, leaned over and said, "This is like a remake of "Plan 9 From Outer Space" with an actual budget..." Sadly, I had to agree.

Honestly, I thought this was a good film. I'll even go so far as to say a great film. I really think that Chris Carter, David Duchovny, and Gillian Anderson delivered what they had promised to. All along, throughout the post-production and press campaign we've been told that this is a creepy story with Mulder and Scully's relationship at its core. Well, that's what it is ... plain and simple. I really think that all the negativity and people's harsh reviews are from false and hyped up expectations of what this movie is supposed to be. If anything, you should just try to walk into the theatre with an open mind.

But I almost think some people who reviewed this film, saw a different film than I did ...

1. I read a review in which the person said Gillian Anderson's acting was awful. That is false. It is quite the contrary. Gillian Anderson is probably one of the strongest aspects of this movie. Every time she's in a scene, you're captivated.

2. I had read that Mulder and Scully don't show up in the film until 45 minutes into it. False. Scully appears in the 3rd scene - so what? no more than 7 minutes? - and Mulder directly follows.

3. Someone complained about an irrelevant and torturously long scene where Mulder fills up his gas tank. This doesn't happen. He goes to a gas station, gets out of his car, and goes into a store.

4. Lastly, it was rumored that the actors where flubbing up their lines all the time. Okay, even if they did, that wouldn't end up in the final film. Obviously they do multiple takes for a reason. The lines are solid.

This movie is not boring. The surprises are there. It may not be scary in a 'horror film' sort of way where things are jumping out at you every 2 seconds, but it is scary. The acting is amazing. Gillian Anderson on her own is a joy to watch, but when you put her in a scene with David it's either going to break your heart or melt it. The supporting cast won't let you down, and neither will the storyline. It's not paranormal in the sense of freaks and monsters, but religion and God. It's very much in the fashion of "All Things"; seeing the signs and following them. Finally, it is just excellently put together. Whoever edited this film did a phenomenal job! The inter-cutting and juxtaposition was out of this world.

GIVE IT A CHANCE, FOLKS.

In the last shot of the theatrical preview for this movie, we see Mulder and Scully turn around to stare at something we assume is very significant. Turns out it's merely a pedestrian reaction shot. And as such, it represents I Want To Believe very well.

This movie gets pretty much everything wrong. First off, it assumes that people watching it have not only seen, but also remember the weak last few seasons of the show. {WHAT FOLLOWS WOULDN'T BE CONSIDERED A SPOILER BY THE FILM'S DIRECTOR, SINCE HE SEEMS TO ASSUME WE ALREADY KNOW THIS} I had no recollection of the two leads ending up romantically involved, which is an incredibly wrong-headed development. Mulder and Scully's platonic partnership was the show's strongest building block. Seeing them in bed together came as a "what the f--k?" moment and felt as wrong as incest. {END MILD, INSIGNIFICANT SPOILER} Then there's the impression that series creator Chris Carter (who wrote and directed this movie), Gillian Anderson, and David Duchovny have all forgotten not only who these characters are, but what the show was about.

The actors call each other by their characters' names, but it feels like a bad impersonation. The biggest problem might be the story, though, which needed to feel like more than just an afterthought, a contrivance to get our duo to investigate spooky goings-on. Speaking of which, the supernatural plays a surprisingly tiny part; apparently, Carter even forgot the genre of his TV show. The main plot feels too mundane (at least until its secrets are revealed at the end, which does provide a few welcome horror thrills). There is an entire pointless subplot devoted to a dilemma faced by Scully at the hospital where she works. The film's subtitle is repeated to eye-rolling effect every time. A recurring character from the show makes an appearance but is given nothing to do. Then Duchovny spouts a few pseudo-profundities, and the whole mess mercifully ends.