Genres: Mystery, Sci-Fi
Rated: PG-13
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Runtime: 105 minutes
Studio: Crying Box
Productions
IMDB Page
Rated: PG-13
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Runtime: 105 minutes
Studio: Crying Box
Productions
IMDB Page
Review done by: Serial McKiller
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly,
Callum Keith Rennie, Mitch Pileggi, Xzibit, Adam Godley, Steve Stafford
Director: Chris Carter
Synopsis: It is a stand-alone story in the tradition of some of the show’s
most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and takes the complicated relationship
between Fox Mulder and Dana Scullyin unexpected directions. Mulder
continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully, the passionate,
ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder’s pursuits.
Review:
Walking into last night's screening I wanted to believe that this might be a
big studio thriller that's managed to not show all it's scenes on TV spots and
trailers. I wanted to believe that this would show a new audience the great
thrills and chills that the original series had to offer. I wanted to believe that
this could in fact be a sleeper hit in the wake of the phenomenal event film
that is 'The Dark Knight'. However what I got was faith shattered by one of
the worst screenplays and one of the worst films of the year, and this is
something that pains me to my heart of hearts to say. I grew up with The X-
Files. My mum was a fan, thus I was a fan. It was as creepy to me as
'Unsolved Mysteries'. I still remember being just about seven or eight years
old seeing some of the characters and plot lines and being really, really
creeped out. When the first film came out, 'The X-Files: Fight the Future' I
saw that and liked it. In fact I'm one of the few people I know that did.
I think director Rob Bowman put a lot of the right tones in the film. Chris
Carter's script though highly over the top, still managed to be creepy enough
in the 'what if they're right' kind of way'. In "I Want to Believe," Carter (whom
created the series) directs and co-writes with Frank Spotnitz. You find out
quickly why this film wasn't pushed too hard by the powers that be at Fox
and why those trailers have been so cryptic with information. The basic plot
involves a kidnapped FBI agent and two current agents, Whitney (Amanda
Peet) and Drummy (Xzibit) who are being led by a de-frocked, pedophilic
priest, Father Joe (Billy Connelly) through the ice and snow searching for
what would seem to be a body. Even though he keeps claiming she's not
dead. Drummy goes looking for Mulder (David Ducovny) through his former
partner at the FBI Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Both have left the agency
and took different paths in life.
Scully finally became the doctor her parents wanted her to be. Mulder...well,
ended up pretty much where guys wanted by the FBI, who were conspiracy
theorists, tend to end up. Somewhere in the woods of Virgina, in a nice
house, in a dark office with new clippings surrounding him and dawning a full
beard. They're brought in because of Whitney's interest in Mulder's past
work involving psychics. She thinks this could come in handy. So the first half
seems to be Mulder and Scully working to figure out if Father Joe is lying or
not which tends to go both ways, while fighting back old demons. Scully no
longer wants to be part of the dark world of monsters, murderers and aliens.
Mulder's obsession with it all is because of his dead little sister and believing
the truth is still out there. The second half then starts unraveling slower than
paint drying till you see what's been kept hidden. What's the real plot, the
reason this is called The X-Files?
I've debated about whether or not to say it...I mean regardless it sucks BIG
TIME, but I'm not going to give it away so that fans of the show like myself
don't have to hear something so lame that would make them incredibly
disappointed. Hence why I'd say just pretend this film isn't coming out this
weekend at all. In fact just pretend it doesn't exist. Needless to say the big
picture is less interesting than the reoccurring super solider story lines and
less suspenseful than the two seasons involving Robert Patrick's character
Agent Doggart. I'd even go as far as to say that this film is worse than the
series finale of the show. Which was so ridiculously anti-climatic (like this film)
and boring (like this film) that I couldn't wait for someone to come along and
make another movie out of it to save everything (not like this movie). I
wished (while watching this film) that perhaps down the road someone could
come around and make a part 3 and fix everything up. I'll come back to this
and tell you why that won't happen.
A big issue with the plot for me comes from creator Chris Carter talking
about how they were always looking for a plot big enough for a movie. This
plot and the big crappy give away is probably one of the lamest ideas
attached with the title 'The X-Files'. Not only that but it really seems that
Mulder and Scully for the bulk of the movie just argue like a married couple,
which they're not despite a sequence in which they're sleeping together and
Mulder goes as far as to make a few sexual comments. I noticed something in
the series and that's that the bulk of the really creepy stories came from
writers Glen Morgan and James Wong who have gone into film with "Final
Destination", "The One", "Black Christmas" and "Final Destination 3". The core
of the episodes that were shot the best came from director Rob Bowman of
the first film and "Reign of Fire" (which I still love despite what anybody says).
For this to be a film made for fans by the original creator, this is more like a
slap in the face. An eight-year old could have come up with a scarier concept
than this. I mean seriously, there is almost zero feelings of dread of all 104
minutes of this film. Even worse is the dramatic pieces attempt to channel the
M. Night Shyamalan idea of having faith in something more and all that, which
for him works. Probably because he knows how to use spirituality and fuse it
with suspense and drama. Carter and company apparently forgot how. And
going back to all the talk about waiting for the right story for a movie, there
is a ton of things in this film that seem like it was conceived four years ago.
From the big priests touching little boys scandals to the growth of stem cell
research and gay marriage. Just little plot points that aren't that huge of a
thing anymore and some how survived a final draft.
As far as seeing Mulder and Scully together again, you get that. Both these
actors can still act and are still these characters and they both still look really
good. Which is always a great thing. Amanda Peet has NO reason to be in
this film nor did Xzibit as they seemed to have just been in it to say they
were. Perhaps he thought this was 'pimp my FBI wagon'. As far as Billy
Connelly goes, I've had a love-hate relationship with. On one hand he has his
cult film 'The Boondock Saints' which I absolutely hated and still cannot
stand. However, his more comedic roles and films I've found to be much
more entertaining and a few even great. Here he's not terrible performance
wise, but it's just his backstory. His "I can see this and that" moments that
seem faked, but sometimes are right and all that just gets old. I won't even
go into how lame these bad guys are. I mean they are the equivalent to that
group of Russian bad guys in any half ass action movie that gets knocked off
within minutes.
However they have been given an executive stay and we get them in and out
the whole crappy movie. Now back to my point about why there will not be a
fixing part 3. If you stay during the credits in which you'll get to see some of
Bill Pope's fantastic photography and Mark Snow's still damn great score
remixed by UNKLE, then you'll get to see a really, really, REALLY infuriating
scene that to me shows that everyone involved knew how bad this film was
and are almost thinking they ought to be proud of it. In fact it's like they're
happy this thing was this freaking bad. And thus why I don't think we'll be
seeing a part 3. Not unless someone wants to come along and simply remake
the series for film all together, which might work down the road. This film is
as painfully bad as 'Mamma Mia!' and '10,000 BC'.
Films that think they are something but are less then nothing. Take it from a
real, true blue fan of 'The X-Files'. Wal-Mart is selling the seasons for cheap
because of the movie coming out. Buy the first couple and start up watching
for yourself. It's an amazing series and the stories still hold up in tension and
suspense today, not so much the special effects but that's to be expected.
Don't come out of this film having never seen the show and thinking that it's
as bad as this movie, because you couldn't be more wrong. Trust me, if you
want something to believe in then believe in the original series.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall: 3/10
Callum Keith Rennie, Mitch Pileggi, Xzibit, Adam Godley, Steve Stafford
Director: Chris Carter
Synopsis: It is a stand-alone story in the tradition of some of the show’s
most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and takes the complicated relationship
between Fox Mulder and Dana Scullyin unexpected directions. Mulder
continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully, the passionate,
ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder’s pursuits.
Review:
Walking into last night's screening I wanted to believe that this might be a
big studio thriller that's managed to not show all it's scenes on TV spots and
trailers. I wanted to believe that this would show a new audience the great
thrills and chills that the original series had to offer. I wanted to believe that
this could in fact be a sleeper hit in the wake of the phenomenal event film
that is 'The Dark Knight'. However what I got was faith shattered by one of
the worst screenplays and one of the worst films of the year, and this is
something that pains me to my heart of hearts to say. I grew up with The X-
Files. My mum was a fan, thus I was a fan. It was as creepy to me as
'Unsolved Mysteries'. I still remember being just about seven or eight years
old seeing some of the characters and plot lines and being really, really
creeped out. When the first film came out, 'The X-Files: Fight the Future' I
saw that and liked it. In fact I'm one of the few people I know that did.
I think director Rob Bowman put a lot of the right tones in the film. Chris
Carter's script though highly over the top, still managed to be creepy enough
in the 'what if they're right' kind of way'. In "I Want to Believe," Carter (whom
created the series) directs and co-writes with Frank Spotnitz. You find out
quickly why this film wasn't pushed too hard by the powers that be at Fox
and why those trailers have been so cryptic with information. The basic plot
involves a kidnapped FBI agent and two current agents, Whitney (Amanda
Peet) and Drummy (Xzibit) who are being led by a de-frocked, pedophilic
priest, Father Joe (Billy Connelly) through the ice and snow searching for
what would seem to be a body. Even though he keeps claiming she's not
dead. Drummy goes looking for Mulder (David Ducovny) through his former
partner at the FBI Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Both have left the agency
and took different paths in life.
Scully finally became the doctor her parents wanted her to be. Mulder...well,
ended up pretty much where guys wanted by the FBI, who were conspiracy
theorists, tend to end up. Somewhere in the woods of Virgina, in a nice
house, in a dark office with new clippings surrounding him and dawning a full
beard. They're brought in because of Whitney's interest in Mulder's past
work involving psychics. She thinks this could come in handy. So the first half
seems to be Mulder and Scully working to figure out if Father Joe is lying or
not which tends to go both ways, while fighting back old demons. Scully no
longer wants to be part of the dark world of monsters, murderers and aliens.
Mulder's obsession with it all is because of his dead little sister and believing
the truth is still out there. The second half then starts unraveling slower than
paint drying till you see what's been kept hidden. What's the real plot, the
reason this is called The X-Files?
I've debated about whether or not to say it...I mean regardless it sucks BIG
TIME, but I'm not going to give it away so that fans of the show like myself
don't have to hear something so lame that would make them incredibly
disappointed. Hence why I'd say just pretend this film isn't coming out this
weekend at all. In fact just pretend it doesn't exist. Needless to say the big
picture is less interesting than the reoccurring super solider story lines and
less suspenseful than the two seasons involving Robert Patrick's character
Agent Doggart. I'd even go as far as to say that this film is worse than the
series finale of the show. Which was so ridiculously anti-climatic (like this film)
and boring (like this film) that I couldn't wait for someone to come along and
make another movie out of it to save everything (not like this movie). I
wished (while watching this film) that perhaps down the road someone could
come around and make a part 3 and fix everything up. I'll come back to this
and tell you why that won't happen.
A big issue with the plot for me comes from creator Chris Carter talking
about how they were always looking for a plot big enough for a movie. This
plot and the big crappy give away is probably one of the lamest ideas
attached with the title 'The X-Files'. Not only that but it really seems that
Mulder and Scully for the bulk of the movie just argue like a married couple,
which they're not despite a sequence in which they're sleeping together and
Mulder goes as far as to make a few sexual comments. I noticed something in
the series and that's that the bulk of the really creepy stories came from
writers Glen Morgan and James Wong who have gone into film with "Final
Destination", "The One", "Black Christmas" and "Final Destination 3". The core
of the episodes that were shot the best came from director Rob Bowman of
the first film and "Reign of Fire" (which I still love despite what anybody says).
For this to be a film made for fans by the original creator, this is more like a
slap in the face. An eight-year old could have come up with a scarier concept
than this. I mean seriously, there is almost zero feelings of dread of all 104
minutes of this film. Even worse is the dramatic pieces attempt to channel the
M. Night Shyamalan idea of having faith in something more and all that, which
for him works. Probably because he knows how to use spirituality and fuse it
with suspense and drama. Carter and company apparently forgot how. And
going back to all the talk about waiting for the right story for a movie, there
is a ton of things in this film that seem like it was conceived four years ago.
From the big priests touching little boys scandals to the growth of stem cell
research and gay marriage. Just little plot points that aren't that huge of a
thing anymore and some how survived a final draft.
As far as seeing Mulder and Scully together again, you get that. Both these
actors can still act and are still these characters and they both still look really
good. Which is always a great thing. Amanda Peet has NO reason to be in
this film nor did Xzibit as they seemed to have just been in it to say they
were. Perhaps he thought this was 'pimp my FBI wagon'. As far as Billy
Connelly goes, I've had a love-hate relationship with. On one hand he has his
cult film 'The Boondock Saints' which I absolutely hated and still cannot
stand. However, his more comedic roles and films I've found to be much
more entertaining and a few even great. Here he's not terrible performance
wise, but it's just his backstory. His "I can see this and that" moments that
seem faked, but sometimes are right and all that just gets old. I won't even
go into how lame these bad guys are. I mean they are the equivalent to that
group of Russian bad guys in any half ass action movie that gets knocked off
within minutes.
However they have been given an executive stay and we get them in and out
the whole crappy movie. Now back to my point about why there will not be a
fixing part 3. If you stay during the credits in which you'll get to see some of
Bill Pope's fantastic photography and Mark Snow's still damn great score
remixed by UNKLE, then you'll get to see a really, really, REALLY infuriating
scene that to me shows that everyone involved knew how bad this film was
and are almost thinking they ought to be proud of it. In fact it's like they're
happy this thing was this freaking bad. And thus why I don't think we'll be
seeing a part 3. Not unless someone wants to come along and simply remake
the series for film all together, which might work down the road. This film is
as painfully bad as 'Mamma Mia!' and '10,000 BC'.
Films that think they are something but are less then nothing. Take it from a
real, true blue fan of 'The X-Files'. Wal-Mart is selling the seasons for cheap
because of the movie coming out. Buy the first couple and start up watching
for yourself. It's an amazing series and the stories still hold up in tension and
suspense today, not so much the special effects but that's to be expected.
Don't come out of this film having never seen the show and thinking that it's
as bad as this movie, because you couldn't be more wrong. Trust me, if you
want something to believe in then believe in the original series.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall: 3/10
Online since: February 20th, 2006
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