The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008)

Director:

Chris Carter

Writers (WGA):

Frank Spotnitz (written by) and
Chris Carter (written by) ...

Release Date:

25 July 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Believe Again

Plot:

Mulder and Scully are called back to duty by the FBI when a former priest claims to be receiving psychic visions pertaining to a kidnapped agent. |

Plot Keywords:

Title Appears In Writing | Psychopath | Virginia | Rescue | Tranquilizer

US Showtimes:

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Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dr. Dana Scully
Amanda Peet	...	ASAC Dakota Whitney
Billy Connolly	...	Father Joseph Crissman
Xzibit	...	Agent Mosley Drummy (as Alvin 'Xzibit' Joiner)
Mitch Pileggi	...	Walter Skinner
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Janke Dacyshyn - 2nd Abductor
Adam Godley	...	Father Ybarra
Alex Diakun	...	Gaunt Man
Nicki Aycox	...	2nd Victim
Fagin Woodcock	...	Franz Tomczeszyn - 1st Abductor
Marco Niccoli	...	Christian Fearon
Carrie Ruscheinsky	...	Margaret Fearon
Spencer Maybee	...	Blair Fearon
Veronika Hadrava	...	Female Assistant

Also Known As:

The X Files 2 (USA) (working title)
The X Files: Done One (USA) (working title)
The X-Files (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
The X-Files Movie (USA) (promotional title)
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (USA) (alternative spelling)
Untitled X Files Sequel (USA) (working title)
X-Files: Je veux y croire (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing content and thematic material.

Runtime:

USA:104 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | UK:15 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Sweden:15 | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Argentina:13 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44443) | Hong Kong:IIB | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Italy:T | Finland:K-15 | Malaysia:U | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade) | New Zealand:M | Ireland:15A | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Crying Box Productions

Trivia:

The first time Mulder and Scully enter FBI Headquarters, they stop in front of a picture of President George W. Bush and as they look at it the six-note "X-Files" theme clearly plays, the only other time the theme is heard in the film other than the opening and closing credits.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end of the movie, when Scully visits Mulder at his house, Scully's white Ford Taurus is parked outside, even though it had been wrecked earlier in the film. When Scully comes out of the house, a silver Ford Fusion is parked outside.

Quotes:

Margaret Fearon: If you were a mother, Dr. Scully, you would understand.

Movie Connections:

References A Wild Hare (1940)

Soundtrack:

Ohh la la

No Country for Old X-Files

The world is a greatly changed place since the heyday of "The X-files." Back in the late 1990's the TV show was at its height and tapping into the shared fears of the day: fear of the unknown, fear of the impending millennium, and fear that something larger than us (the government or alien invaders) was up to no good. Flash forward to the year 2008 and we know all that hubbub about the millennium was for nothing, our government has been up to no good for years, and it's not space invaders we need to worry about but other people terrorizing us. The murky, gloomy, grim style of "The X-Files" is now the norm with feverish and dark films like "There Will Be Blood" and "The Dark Knight" tapping into the mindset of culture today from opposite ends of the film spectrum.

Apparently creator Chris Carter didn't realize his baby was irrelevant now. His only mission should've been to please the faithful. If he wanted to revive his series on film, he had best stick to the labyrinthine alien mythology that still has some die-hard fans buzzing, or at the very least deliver a fun stand-alone monster-of-the-week style flick that would make fans jump in their seats. With "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" he does neither of those things. Instead, he gives us a story where Mulder and Scully come out of hiding to work on a case where the FBI are using a psychic criminal priest to help locate a missing agent and track down a potential serial killer. The plot fits more into the mold of his far less popular companion series "Millennium" than it does to "The X-Files." Apparently Carter wanted to please no one except perhaps himself.

The weirdest thing about the film is that it isn't all that bad. Carter as a director lays on some decent atmosphere (with all the global-warming defying snow and some eerie nighttime shots) and creates some palpable tension as the horrors of the case grow grimmer. The chemistry between Mulder (a lazy but effective David Duchovny) and Scully (an amazingly fully ranged and emotional Gillian Anderson) is still there, and Anderson's performance is especially gripping. Billy Connolly, cast against type, gives an interesting turn as the corrupted priest searching for redemption through his visions that probably would've garnered an Emmy nod had this been a very special two-part TV episode. Also good is Amanda Peet, looking smashing in her smart FBI pantsuits.

Most interesting is the story arc given Dana Scully. I honestly had stopped watching the show after the sixth season, and aside from the mythology storyline that built up to the first film released ten years ago, I recall some of my favorite episodes being the ones where Scully questioned her faith and struggled with reconciling her Catholicism with her scientific approach to the paranormal investigations. This is again explored here, as Scully, always the skeptic, so desperately wants to believe in something. However, it's an odd choice for Carter to focus on this internal human drama when he should be focusing on how to bring fans back into the fold. It would've been an interesting and compelling layer had Carter not been so inept with the rest of the plot.

In the end some fine performances and a moody atmosphere do not add up to a good time. Eventually it becomes an uncomfortable and anachronistic creep-fest that plays like the type of suspense thriller that ruled the roost in the mid-1990's after films like "Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven" made police detection and serial killing popular entertainment. Well, it's 2008, Mr. Carter, and it's time to wake up from your prolonged nightmare that was rendered uninteresting in 2001.