Mulder and Scully’s latest quest for the truth is tailored to the devoted fans of the series. People who occasionally watched the show will probably also enjoy it, but if you’ve only seen a few episodes, you may want to pass. The X-Files: I Want To Believe is full of subtle references to the series, important and trivial, which will reward fans, but leave others feeling the movie is slow and poorly written.
The plot of the film is fairly standard for an X-Files venue. Mulder and Scully are asked to come back to the FBI to help with a case of a missing girl. The cinematography is excellent; the snowy settings mirror the characters inner turmoil. Including the current politics, Chris Carter pays homage to the two people who gave the FBI the most power: J. Edgar Hoover and George W. Bush.
David Duchovny (The X-Files, Californication) and Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) are joined onscreen by Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) and Billy Connolly (The Boondock Saints). Duchovny is excellent in his portrayal of Fox Mulder, a man desperate to find the truth in the darkness. Gillian Anderson equals Duchovny’s performance as Dana Scully, a woman who wants to be as far away from the darkness as possible. Amanda Peet is a little hard to believe as an FBI agent, but she tries hard and I think manages to pull it off. Billy Connolly nails his performance as a pedophile priest by managing to be creepy, yet sympathetic.
If you are a fan of the series, whether casual or die-hard, this is a movie for you. If you’ve only seen a few episodes of the X-Files, you may find it boring and slow. Regardless, Unkle’s variation on Mark Snow’s X-Files Theme is alone worth watching the movie for.
Rating: 8/10
© Nate Phillipps 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment