X-Files: I Want To Believe review (gua.com.my)

The X-Files: I Want To Believe

 

by Max Koh
30 July 2008

Title:
The X-Files: I Want To Believe

Cast:
David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner, Callum Keith Rennie, and Adam Godley

Genre:
Action, Science-Fiction, Thriller

Review:
The latest X-Files film has been so shrouded in mystery that one did not know what to expect from this. Promotions were a pretty hushed affair (compare that to the viral marketing campaign for ‘The Dark Knight’) and the storyline was kept a tight secret within the bowels of the 20th Century Fox studios. All creator/director Chris Carter divulged is that the film will be a stand-alone – with a beginning, middle and end; without all that convoluted conspiracy stuff that made one go bonkers trying to keep up with the multiple plot-lines in the series.

So, are we going to get to the truth after all? Will Mulder finally get to the bottom of the government conspiracy involving aliens and his abducted sister? Will we finally know what the Syndicate is about? Who really is the Cigarette Smoking Man? What about Scully’s baby? Are Mulder and Scully ever going to get hitched, for John’s sake?

So many questions, and sadly, true to Carter’s words- the film does not address all of the questions above.





But you do get such joy from seeing your favorite FBI couple being reunited onscreen after so many years – even if it clearly reflects that both characters have moved on since they quit the FBI years ago. George Bush is now US president (now that’s an X-File case to be resolved) and terrorists are much more a threat to national security than aliens from above. Ha ha.

Having quit the FBI years ago, Dr. Scully (Anderson) is a surgeon working in a hospital while Mulder (Duchovny) is a recluse after being hunted by his former employers. They are called back to help the FBI work on a case which a psychic (Connoly) claims to see visions of women being abducted and subjected to violence.

Unlike the first film 10 years ago, there are no complex storylines in this film. Carter is right, you can enjoy this as a stand-alone film without having to know all the folklore and mythology of the original series.






However, it proved to be a little disappointing for old-time fans. For the new film cast out all the elements that made the original series such a compelling watch every week (until the plot got way too complicated, that is). The one redeeming quality of the film is the reunion between Mulder and Scully and the evolution of their relationship. Even then, I felt that it could be milked a bit more.

In the end, the new film feels like a long episode that overstayed its one hour mark. You know, those early TV episodes where the dynamic duo investigate a strange phenomenon. However, the scares are not scary enough, the mystery not mysterious enough and the shocks not shocking enough.



For such a long wait since the series ended five years ago, I expected creator Carter (and brother Jonathan) to have come up with a better storyline that this. I want to believe, honestly, that this is good. But unfortunately, the new film comes up a few fries short of Happy Meal.

Oh, another thing. Why did they cast rapper Xzibit with a permanent “constipated-face-mistaken-for-tough-look” as an FBI detective. Now, that’s a mystery to be solved.

What says Chris Carter?
On the TV series
“For me, The X-Files has always been a romance – an intellectual romance of the mind that’s very rare and restrained. It is intimate but not physical. That is a big part of the chemistry. And from the beginning of the show, it was David and Gillian who created our success. Without them, the show would not have worked.”

On the film title “I Want to Believe”
“It’s a natural title. It’s a story that involves the difficulties in mediating faith and science. It really does suggest Mulder’s struggle with his faith.”

On the film
“The film encompasses all the best things people loved about the show. It’s scary, creepy, and has a good mystery. With The X-Files, we often scared people by what they didn’t show, and we use that device for the movie.”