‘X-Files’ Won’t Make Anyone Believe in New Film
By Rick Bentley, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
Jul. 25–’The X-Files” creator Chris Carter spent years twisting our minds into mental pretzels with stories of complicated conspiracies, government secrets and the possibility that we are not alone. The thick mythology behind the exploits of FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) on the Fox Network series became so convoluted it would take a team of scholars to track just one story line.
That all ended six years ago when the series went off the air. Fans were left to ponder the fate of the agents, whether the government was still conspiring against us and if we had neighbors with intergalactic backgrounds.
We wanted to believe the answers would come someday.
In a small way, that day has come. Some truths of “The X-Files” are revealed in the new big-screen “The X-Files: I Want to Believe.”
Some. But not all. Here’s why.
Carter faced a dilemma — how to satisfy “X-Files” junkies while not alienating those who weren’t familiar with the television show.
For the unaware, he stayed away from the complicated story lines that for years enticed and confused fans.
For the junkies, he sprinkled some tidbits about the characters and the show’s secrets throughout the movie. We won’t reveal what those tidbits are; that would not be fair to die-hard fans.
What is safe to reveal is that Mulder and Scully no longer are with the FBI. Mulder’s departure was not on the best of terms, and Scully now is putting her medical skills to use in a hospital.
FBI agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) runs into a case that has the earmarks of an X-File, so she persuades Mulder to return as an adviser. Scully, however, is not so quick to return. “I cannot look into the darkness anymore with you,” she tells Mulder.
But it would have been a short movie if she had said no, so the pair return to the dry humor, sexual banter and great chemistry that made them such a hit on the small screen.
The result is Carter, who co-wrote and directed the movie, reunites Mulder and Scully to take on a mundane abduction case with the help of a psychic (Billy Connolly). All that’s not enough to make the story worthy of an “X-Files” case.
The attempt to provide for many instead of the few loyal fans is the film’s undoing.
The case ends up being nothing more than something done better on “CSI.”
And those who aren’t fans will be left out in the cold. Unless you desperately long to know every detail of “The X-Files” mythology, the movie is not compelling.
But for loyal fans who want to know the truth, the movie will be slightly more entertaining.
The reporter can be reached at rbentley@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6355.
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