Review: I Want To Believe The First Draft of The Script Was Better Than This
March 25th 2009 23:40
It's been exactly 10 years since Chris Carter boldly transplanted The X Files into cinemas, and fans like me have been aching for a repeat silver screen outing. The series ended with a pretty crazy cliffhanger - Mulder embracing his spiritual side and convincing Scully that those Monster-of-the-week episodes weren't just a Scooby-style figment of someone's imagination. Oh, and that impending alien invasion that was going to coincide with the Mayan prediction of the end of the world in 2012.
Lots of unanswered questions when the show ended in 2002. You'd think Chris Carter might want to pick up where he left off, maybe give us loyal X-Philes some answers?
No.
Instead, after 6 years of waiting, we are rewarded with a meandering character study featuring two actors clearly both so uncomfortable and unfamiliar in their roles, that the entire theatrical experience feels like an eavesdropped warm-up rehearsal at best. It's difficult to know where to start when critiquing a film that should have been so promising that it's all all the more disappointing when there's little to redeem it. Firstly, the storyline is paper-thin, clichéd, and suffers from soggy pacing, and the sub-par use of plot devices to link characters and events seem unnecessary and tired by the end of the film. We've seen some amazing MOTW episodes, but based on the trailers, this seemed so much grander in its scale that most audiences were expecting a resolution to the mytharc storylines.
The plot takes a distant backseat to the character development, and the movie feels like more like it wants to be a mood piece. But this is ruined by the sparkless dialogue, characters that seem out of place and a spectacular waste of talent - in particular that of Billy Connolly, who seems to have stumbled in from another movie set by accident while on LSD rather than contributing anything noteworthy to the film.
The movie's only saving grace is its excellent photography, showcasing the picturesque, snowy backdrops of British Colombia in Canada. Cinematographer Bill Roe's skill with sweeping, majestic aerial and wide shots really bring the cold, bleak landscape to life while pinpointing the isolation and desolation each character exposits. This mood ultimately becomes both the heart and backbone of the film, and it's the only thing that draws you in as a viewer given that even though everyone is running around, chasing people in cars and firing guns, the movie is going nowhere and getting there at an excruciating pace.
Given that the film's entire theme relies on parading its characters' undeveloped emotions for 90 minutes, it's safe to say that this was a movie purely crafted for X-Files fans, although its fan-fiction-style execution is an embarrassment as far as Carter's bafflingly pedestrian directing and writing styles are concerned. If you weren't a fan of the series, this movie is unlikely to make you a convert, regardless of how pretty the scenery is. This is not an X-Files movie; this is a "look how much fun we had catching up" movie/cast and crew reunion party. Avoid, and wait until 2012 for the worthy sequel you know is being developed as we speak.
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