Had 'I Want To Believe' featured as a regular two-part episode during the original run of the series, it would have been a perfectly competent episode.
Therein lies the problem. Fans of The X Files had waited ten years for the continuation of Mulder and Scully's story and ten years of patient waiting requires a huge pay-off. I Want To Believe is the exact opposite of that - it's a slow, measured sci-fi drama. Minimal FX, minimal action and, until the climax at least, minimal sci-fi. It just isn't enough.
Loose ends from the series are tied up with the bare minimum of thought for long-term fans of the show and the Mulder-Scully relationship never feels real. Separately, both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson give impressive performances, and whilst they still have chemistry together, they are given little to do as a couple and spend much of the movie apart.
Gillian Anderson deserves to be singled out for her performance - although Billy Connoly is quietly chilling as the possibly psychic priest with a disturbing past.
The Frankenstein-style plot is adequate, although when I saw it in a theatre the final reveal resulted in a fair few giggles from the audience.
Overall, I Want To Believe is a good film - but it had the potential to be a great film. Fingers crossed for The X Files 3.
Therein lies the problem. Fans of The X Files had waited ten years for the continuation of Mulder and Scully's story and ten years of patient waiting requires a huge pay-off. I Want To Believe is the exact opposite of that - it's a slow, measured sci-fi drama. Minimal FX, minimal action and, until the climax at least, minimal sci-fi. It just isn't enough.
Loose ends from the series are tied up with the bare minimum of thought for long-term fans of the show and the Mulder-Scully relationship never feels real. Separately, both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson give impressive performances, and whilst they still have chemistry together, they are given little to do as a couple and spend much of the movie apart.
Gillian Anderson deserves to be singled out for her performance - although Billy Connoly is quietly chilling as the possibly psychic priest with a disturbing past.
The Frankenstein-style plot is adequate, although when I saw it in a theatre the final reveal resulted in a fair few giggles from the audience.
Overall, I Want To Believe is a good film - but it had the potential to be a great film. Fingers crossed for The X Files 3.
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