The chemistry between leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson do live up to The X-Files' televised legacy, but the roving plot and droning routines make it hard to identify just what we're meant to believe in.
The chemistry between leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson do live up to The X-Files' televised legacy, but the roving plot and droning routines make it hard to identify just what we're meant to believe in.
audience
34
liked it
Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 247,327
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprise their roles as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully with this long-delayed big-screen continuation that revives the series six years after it headed off the air in 2002. Creator Chris Carter returns to direct, co-writing the script with series veteran Frank Spotnitz for 20th Century Fox. Billy Connolly, Amanda Peet and rapper Xzibit co-star in the stand-alone sequel. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
The movie gets into some pretty freaky territory in the third act, but for this casual fan of the series, it's a strong effort featuring some great characters.
Astute readers will note that I have abstained from making cheap cracks about the I Want to Believe title, an almost superhuman feat given this movie's abundance of sheer nonsense.
Carter doesn't try to meet or exceed fans' expectations so much as create an intimately scaled dramatic universe for his fiercely beloved characters, Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, to inhabit, circa 2008.
Is it a stirring final hurrah for the show, wrapping up all its dangling plot threads? No. Is it an excellent evocation of what the show was, with a depth of soul and character most thrillers still don't bother with? Yes.
On Blu-ray, it looks frigidly awesome in 1080p high definition widescreen, which provides you with both the original theatrical version of the movie and an extended cut.
A handful of TV series have moved from lengthy small screen runs to the big screen; few can match The X-Files in consistent quality and ability to engage its audience.
Unfortunately for this movie, television has evolved well past this degree of silliness and spoon feeding, leaving our beloved X-Files in the vault. I wanted to believe it would be fun movie, but this was definitely time spent.
X-Files: I Want to Believe %u2014 it's almost like a mantra that Chris Carter is trying to get the audience to hear. Say it enough times and they will believe. Well, that's not the case.
The X-Files 2: I Want to Believe isn't a groundbreaking film by any stretch %u2014 but that it challenges the viewer to consider certain moral imperatives in a season devoted to films revolving around explosions and fart jokes makes it a daring pie
Carter has with The X-Files: I Want to Believe created a mediocre mystery that relies too frequently on coincidence and screenwriting convenience to elicit genuine interest, much less "belief" in its twists and turns.
There's a very strong spiritual underside to The X-Files: I Want to Believe. It gives the story a lot of emotional weight, while also making the creepy stuff that much more disturbing.
I was a big fan of the TV series but missed some of the last two series. This is definitely set after the end of the last series, both agents are now doing other work and are no longer in the FBI, until they called upon to help with an X file type case. This could be viewed as a stand alone film on it's own if you
never saw any of the TV series (Really?!) However it just plays more like an extended episode and not really the type of story line the fans want to see in an X files film. It's ok but wont satisfy fans that loved the show so much. There might be a 3rd next year!
No quotes approved yet for The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2). Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2)'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
63%
84%
71%
Top Critic
