The X-Files: I Want to Believe

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

With the extravagant lengths director Chris Carter went to in order to hide the plot and the promise that I didn’t need to be a die-hard fan of the TV series, I was quite optimistic about enjoying X-Files: I Want To Believe. Having been burnt by the original 1998 movie just as I was getting into the show, I assumed that the franchise just wasn’t for me. And to be honest, this latest offering didn’t really convince me otherwise.

The relationship between Mulder and Scully is legendary; even amongst those that have never watched the show there must be few who are unaware of the chemistry that played out between them episode after episode. It is this relationship that takes centre stage for the duration and is what makes the, at best, thin plot, slower and duller.

Yes, there are some exciting car chases and some interesting body parts turn up in unusual locales and I even jumped in my seat once or twice, but that isn’t enough to sustain my interest for the length of a feature film. I don’t need big explosions and gunfire raining down but I do need a few more interesting twists and turns. The plot would have been more comfortable edited down for a one hour TV programme, but instead it was stretched out to provide a vehicle for the exploration of Mulder and Scully’s odd relationship.

The makers said that I wouldn’t need to have seen a single episode and although I have seen one or two, there were still characters and references that I know I just couldn’t fathom properly. Since they have worked so hard not to let the plot get leaked, I won’t spoil it for you here, but it seemed poorly paced and spent too much time outlining the Mulder/Scully dynamic and too little on action sequences or throwing in red herrings.

One outstanding aspect amid a mediocre production was Billy Connelly as an apparently psychic Catholic priest who also happens, surprise, surprise, to be a paedophile. Admittedly the role is a little clichĂ©. Actually, let me rephrase that, a lot clichĂ© – why does every Catholic priest have to have been interfering with choir boys these days? It’s fast becoming one of the fail safe standard caricatures along with scary Russian villain (in this film – check) and stupid, insensitive law enforcement agent (check). But Connelly carries it off with aplomb. He steals the movie with his sympathetic yet creepy depiction of a man who has done terrible things, but on the surface, seems to want to atone for them.

I wouldn’t know who to recommend this film to. It’s not truly awful and if it was a wet, dreary day in February then I might be inclined to watch it. But I saw it on one of the hottest days of the year and quickly began to resent the fact I was in a darkened room, watching a snowy landscape, while outside the sun was blazing. If you are a fan of the X-Files already, then your extra knowledge might mean you enjoy it. If, like me, you don’t know more than the lyrics of Catatonia’s single, then I think the best of the movie might just pass you by.

Last edited: 12th May 2009