FanDominion

OPENS: July 25, 2008
Rating: PG-13 (Gore, Violence)
Genre: Science Fiction; Supernatural Dark Fantasy
No Spoilers

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprise the roles of Mulder and Scully six years after their long-lived TV series. The X-Files left the air.

This is the second X-Files movie, the first was released while the TV show was still in production and wasn’t necessarily loved by fans or by critics.

The second film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, isn’t winning over many critics – unless they were die-hard fans of the show who miss seeing their favorite FBI agents verbally spar and chew through scenery. But some mainstream critics who were fans of the show felt disappointed that this new film failed to recapture the spark that made the series so special.

Of the positive reviews, most critics raved about Gillian Anderson – many lamenting that as an actress, Hollywood has been unfair to such a talent with intelligence, smoldering beauty and a screen presence that would have made her one of the biggest stars of the screen had she been born 60 years earlier.

Also receiving kudos are Duchovny and the supporting cast – particularly Amanda Peet as a young FBI agent with the same gusto that Mulder had when he was first introduced to TV viewers 15 years ago.

Of the not-so-kind reviews, most of the mud is being slung at writer-director Chris Carter for not delivering a film as good as it could have been. Some fear that die-hard fans will leave the film disappointed that a weak story overshadowed the stars and damaged the on-screen chemistry between the two leads.

Additionally, some were not pleased that the script skipped on the science fiction and dark fantasy elements that made the TV series its creepy best. Similarly, more than one critic derided the camera work as missing the film noir-type feel that audience have come to expect in an X-Files presentation

WATCH THE TRAILER

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• Anderson shines
• Duchovny at his witty, earnest best
• Great supporting cast

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• Doesn’t live up to its promise
• Science fiction/supernatural element almost missing

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{for="Newsday" value="8"}

"Duchovny and Anderson seem just right, too – she has one of the great faces in movies, and brings an earnest likability to Scully the Doctor. And Mulder is allowed to be Mulder – someone Duchovny can't escape any easier than Mulder can escape the lure of the unknown." – John Anderson

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{for=”San Jose Mercury-News” value=”7″}

“As smart and obsessed as ever, Mulder and Scully generate a lot of good will that helps “I Want to Believe” plow its way out of numerous narrative snowbanks. ” – Bob Strauss

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{for=”Chicago Tribune” value=”6″}

“Anderson almost makes the new “X-Files” film, subtitled “I Want to Believe,” something to believe in.” – Michael Phillips

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{for=”Washington Post” value=”7″}

“A taut, well-acted, not very scary, not very hard to figure out serial-killer mystery revolving around two adults with trust issues.” – Michael Steuver

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{for=”The Boston Globe” value=”5″}

“The movie is less like an episode of The X-Files and more like the trashiest installment ever of Law & Order: SVU. Benson and Stabler have seen some loony stuff but nothing this sick.” – Wesley Morris

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{for=”Baltimore Sun” value=”6″}

“The X-Files: I Want to Believe resembles those TV-series reunions that bring the cast of a hit together for a not-so-special occasion.” – Michael Sragow

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{for=”Los Angeles Times” value=”4″}

“Even at its stride, The X-Files was a load of malarkey. But it was thoughtful malarkey and compulsively watchable. One could say the same about the first two-thirds of The X-Files: I Want to Believe before it spins out of control and into a delirious plane of awfulness.” – Jan Stuart

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{for=”USA Today” value=”5″}

“The film also skimps on plot; don’t expect the clever, intricate twists of the series. It feels like a wan version of the show — one that has lost its otherworldly edge.” – Claudia Puig

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