I Want To Believe; It has been ten years since the last film and six years since the series had ended.  An X-Files sequel has been an anticipation of mine for a long time and now finally I have one.  For years we heard rumors on top of rumors that another X-Files film was coming but it was getting to the point where I didn’t think one was going to be made.  David Duchovny himself continued to say that it’s coming but after a while I just figure he was full of crap.  Then filming eventually began and the premiere came faster then expected.  Unfortunately, the film isn’t all that impressive and feels like an extended episode.

After a young woman is abducted and the FBI’s only hope comes from a pedophile former priest that claims he is receiving visions from God to find the missing girl.  With the FBI not knowing what to do with the priest they look for the help of a former FBI Special Agent to make sense of what was going on and to save the abducted woman.  X-Files: I Want to Believe reunites David Duchovny as Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully.

X-Files 2 is a film that really is meant for the fans and I can appreciate it on that level but for the general film goer I can understand why they wouldn’t like it. 

Likes:

• After years of playing different characters both Duchovny and Anderson ease back into their roles without issue as if they never left.  The chemistry between the characters is fantastic and it’s very nice to see them together again.
• The story is very much in line with how the series was and in that sense I found it to be enjoyable.  It might not be an epic picture but it’s very much The X-Files.
• Billy Connolly did a great job with his role as Father Joe.  The actor may be a comedian but I tell you he’s not funny at all in this film.
• This is a shipper’s movie.
• Several times there is a little comedy relief, in what is such a dark story to begin with, and it works.  Duchovny’s dry personality helps with the subtle laughs but it wasn’t too much and worked well for the characters.
• Mitch Pileggi makes a small appearance as Walter Skinner.  I’m glad to say it wasn’t a 30 second cameo, he actually had a little to do in this film.  His arrival was something that I found comforting for Mulder and Skully who are just so alone in their little world.
• I love how Mulder sister is still his driving force.

Dislikes:

• After waiting for six years for more X-Files, this isn’t how I pictured it and it is sort of a let down.  This movie is very small in scale and it feels like a low budget film, even though that’s not a bad thing.  However that being the case, this is probably better suited for the small screen and not the big screen.  X-Files: I Want to Believe feels nothing more then a extended episode or a weekly two-parter.  With a sequel that has been anticipated for so long, I was hoping for something bigger.
• Although this movie works as an X-Files story, it didn’t have the elements that are needed for what people would expect, like either monsters or aliens.  For a feature film, I believe Chris Carter (creator, writer, director) should have concentrated on the alien conspiracy.
• Xzibit; I don’t believe that rappers should be actors unless they earn it and train for it.  His performance is exactly why he should be acting.
• Callum Keith Rennie who you’ll recognize from Battlestar Galactica as Leoben plays the villain in this film. I’m not going to say he did a bad job because he didn’t, he just didn’t have all that much to work with.  Rennie’s villain isn’t very compelling as it would be if it was the Cigarette Smoking Man.
• I really didn’t like the fact that the film was based on faith.  We saw a movie just like that called Signs.  You’ll understand if you see or have seen the film.
• This doesn’t cater to bring in people who don’t know the franchise.  In a way that’s a fine thing, at least for the fans, but for the general film goer this film can be very boring.  X-Files was never based on action, it’s based on the mind and that works great for fans including myself but for someone who doesn’t know the niche of The X-Files, they won’t like this movie one bit.

As an X-Files fan I have to say I like this movie but it is also a big disappointment.  Although the acting from the core characters is perfection and the story IS an X-Files story it really falls short of being a feature film.  If your a fan of the X-Files this is just another story to add to the many stories we’ve seen over the years but by no means is this a film for the general viewer.  They won’t get it and they probably won’t like it.  If a third film gets made and I don’t think it will anytime soon, I really hope they bring up the scale and continue the big picture, the alien conspiracy.  Overall, I like Fight for the Future a lot better as a film where I Want To Believe deserves to be a TV movie; I give X-Files 2 a 5 out of 10.

-Phil