After heading into the theater with high hopes, seeing "X-Files: I Want to Believe" was a somewhat confusing experience for me. Technically, the movie itself was very well-made; however, on a deeper level, the entire point of the film was hard for me to ascertain.
This flick was not at all what I was expecting. There were no instances of paranormal activity and nothing along the extraterrestrial or abduction lines, either. There were a few references to Agent Fox Mulder's sister being abducted and a passing mention of William, the supernatural son born to Mulder and Agent Dana Scully, but these seemed to be tossed out as bones to intrepid X-Files junkies who would have hunted down creator Chris Carter if some aspect of the television series wasn't touched upon in the film. On a side note, it was a little difficult to believe Amanda Peet in the lead investigator role, but that's just a casting decision that was balanced out by Billy Connolly, who was terrific as Father Joseph Crissman.
With a 10-year span between the release of this movie and the first one, and a six-year stretch between this film and the end of the TV series (although counting the years with the guy from "Terminator 2" and Annabeth Gish is questionable at best), I guess my perception was that some of the over-arching storylines that were left off would be revisited. Though it was a strong flick, it felt more like a really long episode of "Bones" or "CSI"; it didn't have a feature-film feel to it. I, for one, kept expecting to see a plume of smoke that introduced Cigarette Smoking Man to the proceedings or a dim light in a warehouse indicating the presence of the Lone Gunmen.
In a sense, my feeling is, why make a movie about this show after a decade if you're not going to stay true to what made the series so tremendous? It was unexpected and slightly disappointing to not get more answers out of a feature-length film a decade after "X-Files" went off the air. I understand the approach of trying to appeal to a broader crowd, but how many people who weren't reeled in the first time are going to give it a chance when the predominant perception is that it's a show about E.T.'s?
Also, as pointed out by a friend, there is no real explanation of the sudden relationship between Scully and Mulder. It is highly believable that Mulder lost faith in the government and has spent the ensuing years bunkered up and dropping out of sight, but what has he been doing? What happened to bridge the professional gap that stood between he and Scully that eventually bloomed into love? I can also see Scully becoming a doctor at a Christian hospital, which has some ready-made chances for her to question her faith and the decision-making of higher-ups, but what really happened to William?
To be fair, there was a cool—albeit brief—appearance by FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner at the end, there were some good chase scenes and the plot line of organ thieves was pretty interesting. There were also some cool nods to the TV show (pencils stuck in the ceiling, the "I Want to Believe" poster, the music), but that almost made it even harder to understand why the movie chose to go down a path that is seemingly unrelated to anything of importance related to the show.
I saw this film with someone who wasn't familiar with the TV series, but who really enjoyed the movie on its own merit. Yet while I can appreciate the well-done aspects of the film, I can't get past the sense that, after six years of unanswered questions, this one felt like a lost opportunity.
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