The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson
A unique and intense thriller, with a strong cast and dedicated director, this movie had all of the makings for continuing the majestic paranoia that is the X-Files legacy. Sadly enough though, keeping with the tradition of X-Files is the one area where I feel this 1 feature film and 9 seasons sequel falls short.
Sure, it felt great to see Duchovny and Anderson in roles so fitting to my teenage memories of sci-fi; and yes, Chris Carter does deliver on his imbued promise of over-arching conspiracy … but really, without the focal point on an extra-terrestrial or para-normal phenomena of any kind, this newest film didn’t feel so much a capstone on to a great series as it does just an above-average thriller starring two of our favorite FBI special agents.
A great movie overall, but I have a feeling true hardcore fans are going to feel less inspired by this story of love and persevering hope and be more disappointed in the lack of “smoking men” and “spooks” that come through so strongly in the first X-Files film. I will say, though, that the quality of production and character dynamics shown here has me queuing up all the old seasons on Netflix, in hopes that my appreciation will grow as I fill in the story-line gaps I have missed.
The “Two” in Review (by Matt):
Not even interested in seeing this movie… not at all. Budget bin at best, and to be honest I’m not even going to give it the fair chance to prove me wrong. Yeah, I’m hatin’ on this one…