The X-files – I Want to Believe: Review

To the sometimes or never-fan: Go see this movie because you should become a regular fan of the X-Files. You’ll watch it and say “I assumed the X-Files was cooler than this…” and then you’ll go watch more just to prove it.

Ten years after the acclaimed (and totally awesome) X-Files movie The X-Files: Fight the Future, fans can’t help but want to hold creator Chris Carter’s new film The X-Files: I Want to Believe up to the same standard. However, due to Carter’s decision to mop out all traces of the massive conspiracy that came to define the X-Files as a whole, the new film immediately loses its edge and allure as the highly anticipated return of everyone’s favorite FBI agents.

Mulder and Scully (who still call each other by their last names, even though they’ve been lovers since the series ended) have aged well for what they’ve been through. Scully’s moved on to become a full-time doctor and Mulder still doctors his own wounds of looking for the truth in newspaper clippings in his home office.

Now, they must partner up just like the old days to help the FBI solve some violent crimes with a touch of the paranormal.

Just like old stand-alone episodes of The X-Files, Mulder and Scully must put their crime-solving abilities to work while battling inner angst and the higher-ups of the FBI. Just like old stand-alone episodes, this movie probably would have been better if it was watched on an old television screen in a dark basement.

I don’t want to give away any of the plot, so I’ll just give a piece of advice. When you go see this film (and I want to believe you will), just imagine it’s an episode of the show, and not a blockbuster hit like the first movie in 1998. Trust no one (the critics) and go see it yourself.