The X-Files: I Want to Believe — he said, she said — movie review

by Chris and Kris   ⋅   August 3, 2008   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

Director: Chris Carter
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson
Genre: Drama, Supernatural

HE-SAID
X-Files: I Want to Believe. Color me pleasantly surprised. I know that this film has been receiving quite a bit of flack from the general viewing populace, but I’m finding that for the most part, the people who are upset or disappointed by the film are casual X-Files fans at best. Most of the particularly vocal ones seem not to have even watched the show.

I Want to Believe is not as complex as The Dark Knight. It’s far more-so. While The Dark Knight made sure to repeatedly jam its philosophy down your throat until there was no chance of misinterpretation, I Want to Believe is content to leave final decisions up to the audience. At its core are issues of theology, ethics, belief in the supernatural, forgiveness, fate, and redemption, explored through Scully’s faith in God, Mulder’s faith in truth, and the pedophile priest’s faith in his apparent sixth-sense as a sign of God’s forgiveness. And with each person’s faith comes a crisis of such. Can what was believed in be true if there seem to exist evidence of the contrary? What if conventional wisdom stands contrary to that belief? How can a benevolent God allow for the molestation of a child, much less the murder of innocent person? And what are the limits of forgiveness? What sense would there be in a just God using a felon as his messenger? And what would be his punishment should he prove a charlatan? Can faiths be mutually exclusive? If one was to believe in an unseen omnipotent being, what’s to prevent them from believing in psychics, the supernatural, or even extraterrestrial beings? Granted, these are all common questions for a basic course in philosophy and ethics, but what is particularly impressive is how all of these questions are addressed through the film’s strikingly intelligent narrative. Furthermore, all are shrouded in enough ambiguity that, even after the film’s final sequence, different persons will have different takes on the events witnessed, providing a surplus of fodder for discussion. That is, if they give the film a chance, and sit still long enough to listen.

So I’ve talked of the points of intellectual and philosophical interest, but nothing really of the film. As a longtime X-Files fan (since junior high. I own all the seasons, the movie, two of the soundtracks, yada yada.), I felt that I Want to Believe fit well into the established X-Files universe, though Mulder and Scully seem to be pretty well adjusted to their quieter lives, possibly even forgetting all their previous encounters with aliens, mutant flukeworms, tumor-men, Native-American demons, black oil, Lone Gunmen and others. The pacing is a bit slower than the average X-File – more in line with a mid-nineties thriller – but it picks up quite a bit in the second half. Performances are good all around. Billy Connolly steals the show, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson slip into their old roles perfectly, and even the questionable casting of Amanda Peet and Xzibit prove sound. The film is strikingly shot and skillfully edited (the Mummy 3’s editor should take a gander), providing a number of tense moments for the X-Files enthusiasts.

In closing, in terms of the X-Files, I was already a believer, and this X-File only served to reinforce that faith. Fans will want to make sure to stay through the end of the credits for a bit of eye candy, and some fan-thanks. The X-Files: I Want to Believe is good stuff all around. See it.

SHE-SAID:
I like the X-Files… I wouldn’t miss sleep over missing an episode; I wouldn’t call myself a fan, but I like it. I do not live and breathe Mulder and Scully like some of the diehards in our screening audience (although I had a crush on Mulder’s unwavering optimism, brains, and wit), so I could not share with them the tearful moments when blowhard Scully breaks down, or the titillating hot-cha-cha moment at the end of the credits with our heroes in beachwear. Suffice to say, all you need is general knowledge of the X-Files to follow.

X-Files: I Want to Believe is written less like a fractious theatrical ego diaspora (as most TV adaptations adopt as if they yearn to explicitly explain the characters), and more like an episode, so it’s comfortable and cozy; settling in is easy. I do want to mention that it’s a head-scratcher as to why this film is released so late, so long after “the legacy”, and because it is so well-written, maybe it’s to give Chris Carter the ability to flex. Hmm, maybe ego does play a part. Anyway, it’s well-written. A little slow dialog snooze that may be geared more towards fans, blatant Ford Motors tie-ins (like the show), not-so-blatant anti-smoking campaign, but well-written.

With a nice hand-off from medical to paranormal, human evils amidst broader terrors, it becomes an avid mind battle. Christians and scientists (Scully’s team/persona) deal with absolutes and answers, Mulder’s burden of proof lies in the intangible, like Billy Connolly’s vivid psychic visions. Connolly’s dense Glaswegian accent seemed so familiar, I thought it was a Monty Python skit until he started to bleed from his eyeballs. Scully never tires in her tirade of morality and justice, and Mulder just wants to believe and help others believe. If you want to be their tennis ball, then go see X-Files: I Want to Believe.

About the Authors

Chris Nelson and Kris Kobayashi-Nelson are the proud co-founders of dreamlogic.net. The adventurous soulmates occasionally take a break from ghost hunting, spelunking, pranking, programming, munching, and 4-hour bike rides to view some killer flicks.

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