Review: X-Files: I Want To Believe 3-Disc DVD
Mulder and Scully Return for a One-Off Storyline, with Mixed Results
Jan 7, 2009
In an interesting twist which steers away from focusing yet another movie on the greater X-Files mythology (alien invasion, government conspiracy, or the search for Mulder's sister), X-Files: I Want to Believe instead uses the formulaic "mystery of the week" concept, which worked well enough as filler between larger sweeps episodes during the show's nine year run.
X-Files: I Want to Believe Plot Overview
Several young women have been abducted in a wintery New England state, and the FBI gets involved when one of them happens to be a young agent named Monica Bannan. As they run out of possible leads and clues, agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) seeks to locate the elusive Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). Mulder has been in hiding due to an FBI manhunt for him, with accusations pending in relation to his work on the X-Files in years past (throroughly detailed in the show's last season).
In order to do so, Agent Whitney dispatches her colleague Agent Drummy (rap artist Xzibit) to seek Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), Mulder old partner who is now working as a doctor at a nearby hospital. Scully is involved in a difficult case, in which she is attempting to save a young boy's life, who suffers from a very rare disorder. Having very few options left, and needing a brief change of perspective, Scully agrees to contact Mulder (who's in hiding), to ask for his help in assisting the FBI.
Fearing a possible entrapment by the feds, yet being told by Scully they are wiping the slate clean on Mulder in exchange for his valuable insight, the duo return to the hallowed halls of the Bureau, to help Agent Whitney solve the abductions. Their work soon lead to the discovery of specific body parts, located with the help of a questionable source, Father Joe Crissman (Billy Connelly).
A convicted pedophile and defrocked man of the cloth, Father Joe has visions of the events which occur at the crime scenes, and believes he is being given these visions by God himself, as a way to redeem himself for the evil acts from his past.
The trail of clues Father Joe leads Mulder and Scully towards, all point to crimes more sinister than any sin, which tie into the abductions, the body parts, and to a certain extent, Joe himself. It's up to our favorite X-Files agents to solve the mystery before it's too late for any of them.
Overall Analysis of X-Files : I Want to Believe
This second cinematic outing for Christ Carter's creation marks the first opportunity for the showrunner to have a turn at the helm, for the big screen. Though many would expect great things from Carter, he just manages to keep the format simple, offering the audience a typical one-off, isolated storyline, kept free of larger X-Files webs of conspiracy. Gone are the Lone Gunmen (they sacrificed their lives to prevent the release of an airborne virus in Season 9), also gone is Cigarette Smoking Man, who perished in the last episode of the series. Instead, Carter brings it back to basics, with Mulder and Scully working together, focusing on a single case.
In order to avoid spoiling the mystery for newcomers, let us just say that the theme is not quite morbid, yet not quite uncommon for the show's usual themes. Xzibit and Amanda Peet have very little to do as the current agents working the abduction cases examined in the movie, and so they merely act as proxies, for what Mulder and Scully used to stand for within the bureau.
The real magic in this film comes from Scottish actor Billy Connelly as Father Joe, in a brilliant turn as a man not only gifted with horrific visions, but a wicked sense of humor, and a mean mouth to spare when confronted with his sins. While it's fun to see our favorite characters on the screen once again, it's their interactions with Joe that make all of the dramatic scenes work.
The show's story may dissapoint the hardcore fans who are looking for alien bounty hunters, black ooze, or a surprise appearance by Alex Krycek (though Mitch Pileggi does have a brief moment near the end as Walter Skinner, their old boss). That being said, it's commendable for Chris Carter to have daringly decided on a much smaller story, rather than go all out on yet another mythological arc from the series.
This may have hurt the film's chances at the box office (though opening around the same time as The Dark Knightmay not have helped much), but it nevertheless makes for a half decent story, which manages to hold its own, by carrying enough elements of mystery to keep the viewer interested for the duration.
X-Files : I Want to Believe DVD Extras
The three-disc version does contain a fair amount of featurettes (Disc Three has the now popular Digital Copy). Among them, is a piece on the pleasure of returning to Vancouver for this film (the series had moved to Los Angeles by Season Five), an elaborate 90-minute docu on the challenges of writing another X-Files movie so many years after the series ended (including fighting the internet bloggers intent on ruining the film's few surprises), and also a brief piece on how Chris Carter decided to make this film as green as possible, by making the production eco-friendly.
Oh, and you gotta love the blooper reel.
