‘X-Files’ almost lives up to expectations
I’ve said it before. Some of the best movie experiences are
those where you have really low expectations for a film and it
turns out to be more enjoyable than expected
– maybe not good, but enjoyable.
Well, the opposite happens just as much. Sometimes it is the
films I most anticipate that end up disappointing me the most.
‘X-Files’ almost lives up to expectations
I’ve said it before. Some of the best movie experiences are those where you have really low expectations for a film and it turns out to be more enjoyable than expected – maybe not good, but enjoyable.
Well, the opposite happens just as much. Sometimes it is the films I most anticipate that end up disappointing me the most.
So when it came to this summer’s blockbusters, the movie I was most looking forward to seeing was “X-Files: I Want to Believe.” I’ll take the blame for setting myself up for disappointment this time around. When the buzz first started about the movie at the beginning of the year, my sister purchased the complete X-Files television series on DVD. That’s nine seasons of Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) chasing aliens and monsters while running after government conspiracies. Plus movie number one, released in 1998.
My sister insisted that we make a concerted effort to watch the entire series before the latest movie came out July 25. That’s a lot of X-Files, and it included some weekends when we watched five episodes in a row without a break. We made it to the end of season seven last week. And then we gave up.
When it came to the movie, we weren’t sure what to expect. The little press I’d read about the movie, which was kept under tight wraps by series creator Chris Carter, said simply that it wasn’t going to be all about aliens and that it would be accessible to those who had never watched the series.
The movie certainly was accessible to anyone, though it probably had more to offer to viewers who know the history of Mulder and Scully. During the series, the two worked together in a secret FBI department where they investigated unexplained phenomena. Mulder was obsessed with the idea of aliens since his younger sister went missing when they were children. Scully, a medical doctor, was usually skeptical about Mulder’s theories. Together they traded barbed comments with each other and always offered a good mix of humor. And of course, there was always the sexual tension between the two of them for most of the series.
Many fans wondered if the dynamic duo would end up together in the new movie and the answer is – come on, I wouldn’t really give that away! That’s the one reason to see the movie.
The movie begins 10 years after we’ve last seen the pair. Mulder has been kicked out of the FBI and is a wanted man. He spends his days clipping out newspaper articles and has a really natty beard. Scully works as – you guessed it – a medical doctor at a Catholic hospital. She is approached by FBI Agents Mosley Drummy (played by rapper Xzibit) and Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet), who want Mulder’s help on a case. They desperately need to find a missing agent, and so far the only help they’ve had is from a convicted pedophile priest who claims to have visions about the missing woman.
Mulder is called in to authenticate Father Joseph Crissman’s (Billy Connolly) claims. Though he is quickly drawn back into the life of FBI investigation, Scully resists.
For those who are familiar with the series, the movie felt very much like a monster of the week episode. Everything was wrapped up by the end of the movie, but none of the bigger questions around the series were attacked. There was no talk of Scully’s abduction, Cigarette Smoking Man or aliens.
That probably makes the movie more interesting to newcomers, but unfortunately, the lack of press may have hurt the opening weekend. At a Friday night showing, the movie had few attendees and by Sunday, one local theater had moved the “X-Files” from the biggest theater to the smallest screen in the building.
Industry reports had the new film coming in fourth with $10 million in ticket sales, behind the weekend sales for movies that had already been out for two weeks, including the poorly reviewed “Mamma Mia!”
I keep reminding myself if I hadn’t just watched 100+ episodes of the “X-Files,” I probably would have enjoyed it way more than I did. It was funny. It was clever. And Anderson and Duchovny slid back into their old roles with ease.
