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The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2)

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2) (2008)

tomatometer

32

Average Rating: 4.9/10
Reviews Counted: 159
Fresh: 51 | Rotten: 108

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.

26

Average Rating: 4.6/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 23

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

My Rating

Movie Info

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

Dec 2, 2008

$20.8M

20th Century Fox

Cast

All Critics (163) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (52) | Rotten (110) | DVD (7)

Only a fan would be inclined to tolerate this dunderheaded mystery.

December 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

July 28, 2008 Comments (2)
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There may be no going back, as much as we might want to believe otherwise.

July 25, 2008 Full Review Source: USA Today | Comments (3)
USA Today
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

July 25, 2008 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

In the end it's all about these very full and rewarding lead characters.

July 25, 2008 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

July 25, 2008 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

January 7, 2011 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | Comment
ComingSoon.net

The X Files: I Want to Believe ... feels like a TV episode that's been stretched out of shape, like a badly washed jumper

November 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Movie Talk | Comment

Second X-Files movie is grisly, disappointing.

December 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

A sloppy, second-rate entry in the catalog of standalone X-Files adventures.

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Washington Times | Comment

Leaves a trail of affecting impressions in its wake

August 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

It was darker and murkier, and I didn't enjoy spending time with the characters, as I had on Friday nights more than ten years ago.

January 15, 2009 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comment
7M Pictures

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.

January 14, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

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.

January 14, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

A better movie would have been an earlier sequel to The X-Files 1998 film - much truer to the franchise with its focus on aliens.

November 21, 2008 Full Review Source: Teletext | Comment
Teletext

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.

September 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Cinerina | Comment

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.

August 27, 2008 Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review | Comment
The Scorecard Review

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

August 17, 2008 Full Review Source: Illinois Times | Comments (3)
Illinois Times
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2)

So-so two hour tv episode. . the entire plot was even more absurd i think in retrospect. . you def did not need any xfiles knowledge prior to this.

February 3, 2010
jmanard52

Super Reviewer

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

July 30, 2008
Deano78

Super Reviewer

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