Evan Sims

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Stopped by the theater this afternoon and caught the second X-Files film, “I Want to Believe.” I was really excited for this one. I was a big X-Files fan back in the day, so the thought of a second stab at a big screen X-Files adaption was thrilling. The first movie, as you may remember, received universally bad reviews; it kind of summarized everything that went wrong with the show in the last 2 or 3 seasons.

I Want to Believe takes a step back from the “epicness” of the previous film, and instead presents us with a more down to earth (literally), enjoyable story very much along the lines of a traditional X-Files episode. This film centers around three factors: an organ-snatching Russian and his husband (yes, they’re gay), a pedophile physic priest (say that 3 times fast) and, most shockingly of all, the relationship between Mulder and Scully.

First, let’s discus the story. It was very creepy, but not in a supernatural sense, which was a nice change. It boils down to this: an FBI agent is abducted, and a priest claiming to have psychic visions of the event approaches the Bureau, telling them that he can help them track her down. The lead in charge of the investigation isn’t particularly comfortable with the idea of psychics, so they ask Mulder to come in and consult for them. By this time Mulder and Scully have long been out of the FBI game; Scully is a Doctor at Our Lady of Sorrows hospital, and Mulder has been hiding out at their home, dodging the FBI. Yeah, they live together. Even shows them in bed together. Weird, given the incredibly ambiguous relationship the two had throughout the TV series. A nice change, though.

Mulder gets right back into the swing of the things and becomes obsessed with the case, while Scully finds herself unwilling to get completely involved. In fact, a good deal of the film deals with the lovers quarrel that arises from Mulder’s devotion to the case. It’s nice to see the writers giving the relationship some real depth here.

The acting was pretty great, with one exception. Callum Rennie (you might recognize him as Number Two on Battlestar Galactica) does a fantastic and pretty frightening job of his role, and Gillian Anderson has really come a long way from the actress we were introduced to in the early days of the X-Files. Billy Connolly, who has long been one of my favorite performers, does a unnervingly good job of making you feel bad for the child molesting, eye-bleeding psychic priest. David Duchovny was… well, David Duchovny. I’ve never found his acting to be anything to write home about, but he’s the Fox Mulder we’ve all grown to love. My only complaint was with Amanda Peet. Her dialog felt dry, as it always does. Not sure how she keeps landing jobs, but I guess some people can get by on looks alone.

So, how did I feel about the film overall? I liked it, more or less. The story was interesting, and they didn’t try to go over the top like they did before. They stayed true to the traditional X-Files formula and it worked well. I do feel the whole thing was drawn out a bit too long, and they could easily have shaved a good 20-30 minutes off for my taste, but beyond that I didn’t have any major complaints.

I give it a 3.5/5 —