I have enough residual love for The X-Files that despite the generally unflattering buzz going around about the newest X-Files movie (subtitled "I Want to Believe"), I had to go and check it out for myself. I guess I wanted to believe it might be good.But I should have listened to the word of mouth.
This isn't a "Bad Movie." But it's not a very good one, either. Actually, I'd say it's rather a stretch to call it a "movie" of any kind, because it was seriously lacking in the scope and expanse of a major motion picture. Watching the film, I felt like there was almost nothing being put on the screen that couldn't have been achieved within the budget and production values of the television series itself while it was in its prime.
The script and story was similarly lackluster. I'd sort of peg it as average "season five era" fare -- a period of time where the show would still often muster a very good episode, just on the cusp of where it would start to get its head too far up its own ass with the so-called "mythology" to be enjoyable anymore.
Guess how I felt about the "mythology" episodes of The X-Files.
That is actually about the one thing I can strongly say is "good" about this movie -- there's no trace of the show's complex and ongoing made-up-as-we-went-along serial story. There are a couple of name checks to great episodes of the show, a few lines of dialogue aimed at explaining how we got here in the intervening years since the show went off the air, and otherwise it's on with business.
The trouble is that as a "stand-alone" installment of The X-Files, this can't even rate anywhere near the good ones. This is no "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" or "Jose Chung's From Outer Space." There's not really any suspense, there's virtually no hint of the unexplainable, almost no action. There's plenty of Mulder/Scully banter, but basically no other trace of what makes The X-Files The X-Files.
Sadly, I found that the more the movie dragged on, the more I realized I wasn't really missing the old television series very much. Other shows have come along to fill the void, and have done so far greater than this movie did. Supernatural springs to mind as tops on that list -- it does truly scary tales of the unexplainable on a weekly basis, and I'm far more invested in the relationship between the two brothers who are its main characters than I was in Scully and Mulder after their deep entanglement in the "mythology" made me start to actually dislike them a bit.
But despite the fact that an X-Files movie turned out not to really be necessary, one could have still been good. Ultimately, this movie feels like the script draft they could get finished before last year's Writer's Strike. A few more drafts probably could have turned out a good-but-not-great product from this same idea. Instead, lacking the proper time to gestate, it's a stillborn mess.
I wouldn't say it's actively bad. It's frankly too boring to be good or bad. I rate it a C-. If you're an X-Files fan and haven't seen it yet, I recommend saving the two hours, staying at home, and watching two of your favorite old episodes in a mini-marathon instead.
3 comments:
Even though it was a mythology story, "Fight The Future" was at least engaging, had scope to it, and felt like there was a driving force behind the story. It was more grandiose and didn't rely on half assed television style storytelling.
Like this one. It committed the sin of being very very VERY average.
I knew what kind of story we were in for when Mulder was "forgiven" and asked to come help with this case.
Really? We've got a missing FBI agent and that's important enough for us to (just take my word for it with nothing signed or any proof) forgive and drop that whole you-were-sentenced-to-death thing.
Now if they'd made that some kind of trap to lure Mulder out and into a chase for his life or something, that might have been interesting. It'd have been an improvement at any rate.
And Dr. - that poster image you found is SOOOOO much better than the actual domestic US poster that most theatres got. I actually want that one. ;P
I find much truth to your comment about not really missing the series that much. While watching the ST:TNG episode "I, Borg" today, I was again reminded how little I really miss that series. I was stimulated by the credits and was reminded about how much I hung on every one of these episodes. My first passing thought was, "Hugh is the coroner on The Closer," not, "ZOMGBBQ, THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST EPISODES EVER!"
(not meaning to switch subjects but I guess this is kinda similar)
Giromide - I also caught "I, Borg" this afternoon and realized I did, in fact, miss the ST TNG style. after watching so many episodes of Voyager and Enterprise butcher up the spirit of the series, when Picard realized they had to abort their plan and made a good-morals choice it was very refreshing. yay Picard!
but I never got into the whole X-Files trend so from the outside perspective I had 0.68% interest in the X-Files movie anyway.
the mole
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