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I'm not sure that Chris Carter believed in this project
by the end of production I mean how else can I explain the
convoluted plot that leaves enough ends dangling to use
as fishing lure? "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" after
a gripping opening doesn't quite hit its stride until about
an hour into the movie and that's too bad because writers/producers
Frank Spotnitz & Chris Carter do have a compelling story
to tell here but the story often gets lost in all the subplots
introduced in the film. That's too bad because Spotnitz
and Carter deliver a story that tackles a number of important
themes that played throughout the series during its 9 year
run--faith, forgiveness, trust and...the darkness that follows
both Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian
Anderson). By the time that the film finally DOES draw in
the audience they either probably don't care or are so distracted
that they are texting their friends to tell them to stay
away from the film. "Believe" is an example of what happens
when a studio takes too long to resolve a lawsuit, the writers
come up with script threads that might have worked well
on their own but look like a bad car crash when combined
and marketing takes a mental vacation suggesting that a
movie based on a highly rated TV series could stand up to
the juggernaut of "The Dark Knight" and the fourth "Mummy"
sequel (if you could "The Scorpion King" spin-off). All
of this allowed their core audience to become obsessed with
something else. If this film had come out three or four
years ago, had a strong producer/writer editing the script
AND wasn't in the shadow of "The Batman" "The X-Files: I
Want to Believe" might have been a $150 million hit instead
of a box office failure. ***
Crafting a large scale horror movie is difficult to
say the least. The best horror films work on a smaller,
more intimate scale although there are exceptions to this.
Carter and Spotnitz come up with a compelling plot that
COULD be scary if it were developed instead of introducing
a series of subplots that, on their own, would also be interesting
but just bog down the main plotline of the film. ***
Dr. Scully now practices medicine at Our Lady of Sorrows
Hospital and has ditched the FBI completely. When she is
contacted by FBI Agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) investigating
the abduction of another FBI agent seeking Mulder's help,
she doesn't want to have anything to do with the agency.
It seems a former disgraced Catholic Priest (Billy Connolly)has
been having psychic visions connected to the case and Whitney
wants Mulder's opinion on the valdity of the visions. Mulder
at first wants nothing to do with the case but Scully initially
talks him into it by pointing out that the missing agent
COULD have been one of them. ***
Meanwhile, in the b-story Scully tries to save a patient
with a potential terminal illness using experimental means
and ends up butting heads with the hospital administrator
who feels that the patient should be allowed to die with
dignity. Although this b-story feels like it was lifted
out of an episode of "E.R." Spotnitz and Carter manage to
integrate it with great difficulty into the main story.
***
Carter's direction is often stylish capturing the unique
look of the show. Shot in British Columbia (as a cost saving
move) like the series was for its most important seasons,
the action is well done but, again, much of the different
story elements feel grafted on almost as if in an experiment
that Dr. Frankenstein might perform. The main problem aside
from Carter's sluggish direction and the turgid pacing of
the first half is a twisted narrative which feels like a
padded out one hour episode of the series with great production
values. Fox has blown just about every potential franchise
they've ever had and this is no exception. I have to give
credit to both writers for wanting to continue to develop
the relationship between Mulder and Scully and show us where
they are 7 years later. Still, the film does have a number
of stunning set pieces and the performances by the cast
is uniformly good even if the dialogue is occasionally clunky
and the exposition a bit fractured. ***
As Carter has pointed out this is very much a stand-alone
movie that doesn't depend on the conspiracy arc that fueled
the first movie made 10 years ago AND the series for much
of its run. In a while that's good as it allows Carter and
Spotnitz to introduce new characters without having to provide
us the viewers with much backstory. That isn't to suggest
that the film doesn't deal with what has happened before--references
are made to everything from their son William to other characters.
The main problem with the film is the sometimes plodding
pacing and, again, the tangled narrative. While having an
A and B story that could echo each other and handle some
big themes is valid, it's like Spotnitz and Carter recycled
two episodes that they had never finished and cemented them
together with superglue--the story does work but all the
seams where they've been bonded shows. ***
I wasn't disappointed with the main plot for the film
which seemed worthy of the series high standards just the
poor execution. "The X-Files" is an example of a studio
(and creator)bungling its chance to develop a franchise
that had much potential beyond its 9 year run on TV. The
studio and Carter were involved in a long lawsuit related
to Fox selling off the syndication rights to one of its
own divisions thereby depriving Carter of a higher potential
profit. It is a classic example of killing the Goose that
laid the golden eggs. The net result was a project that
took so long to come to the screen that its core audience
had moved on (hence its poor box office performance) and
scheduling it against MAJOR blockbusters was also an idiotic
move on Fox's part. ---
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