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The X-Files: I Want to Believe picks up more or less in the present. For moviegoers unfamiliar with the conclusion of the television series, Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) are no longer with the FBI. Scully works as a medical doctor in a pediatrics ward of a Catholic hospital, Our Lady of Sorrows and Mulder lives as a recluse, still collecting newspaper clippings of strange, unexplained phenomena. He’s also facing criminal charges that, luckily for him, the FBI refuses to pursue. When, however, an FBI agent goes missing from her home, two FBI agents, Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) and Agent Mosley Drummy (Alvin 'Xzibit' Joiner), stumped by their inability to find the missing agent, call in Scully and Mulder, promising Mulder a free pass on the criminal charges in exchange for his help.

Whitney wants Mulder on the case due to the involvement of a defrocked Catholic priest, Father Joseph Crissman (Billy Connolly), who contacted the FBI, claiming he’s had visions of the missing agent and the two men (Callum Keith Rennie and Fagin Woodcock) who abducted her. Due to Crissman’s criminal past, Scully responds with aversion to him. Willing to take a chance and eager to be working again, Mulder responds more openly. While the investigation continues, the two men kidnap another woman (Nicki Aycox). Scully struggles with Mulder’s renewed interest in the paranormal and her own faith, religious or otherwise, as she treats a young boy, Christian Fearon (Marco Niccoli), whose only hope of surviving a terminal disease, is through a radically new, radically experimental, painful treatment.

To say more about the storyline would be to give away spoilers, something Carter and Spotniz have worked hard to avoid (they’ve succeeded as far as that goes). Unfortunately, Carter and Spotniz came up with a central mystery and payoff that rely heavily on sci-fi/horror B-movie clichés, cultural, ethnic, religious, and sexual stereotypes (all of them outdated and offensive). In an hour-long television series, the occasional clunker episode is forgivable, since there was always the possibility of a better episode in a week’s time. But when you’ve been waiting six years for another visit to the X-Files universe, a derivative, unimaginative storyline with a weak payoff isn’t what you’re expecting, but that’s exactly what Carter and Spotniz decided to give their fans and the casual moviegoer who decides to give The X-Files: I Want to Believe a chance at their local multiplex.

If "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" has any redeeming value, it’s in the chemistry between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Even after six years away from their career defining characters, they still work well together. They act like a couple that’s come to a mutual understanding about each other’s strengths and weaknesses. To their credit, Carter and Spotniz are at their best when they’re focusing on Mulder and Scully’s interactions. Their dialogue is as crisp, biting, and clever as ever. The whole religion (or religious belief) versus science or rationality theme that runs through "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" becomes uncharacteristically heavy-handed and tiresome. That leaves exactly two reasons, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, for recommending "The X-Files: I Want to Believe." For most, non-X-File-o-philes, that won’t be nearly enough. Sadly, "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" looks the end for the "X-Files" franchise, at least in film or on television.

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originally posted: 07/25/08 17:20:32
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