Originally expected in November 2001, this sequel to 1998’s The X-Files film is the first appearance since the conclusion of the television series in 2002. The X-Files: I Want to Believe is not part of the TV show’s extraterrestrial mythology arc, but rather exists externally as a standalone thriller with supernatural elements.
Directed by Chris Carter, The X-Files: I Want to Believe offers a glimpse at the X-Files universe slightly over six years after the final episode. Shot in Pemberton and Vancouver, the film has the feel of the program’s first five seasons. Perhaps unfortunately, Carter’s movie grounds television’s longest-running science fiction series and places the characters in the midst of a relatively standard story with little distinctiveness or suspense.
As we catch up with the characters, we meet former FBI agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) as she works as a staff physician at Our Lady of Sorrows. She is treating a boy who has a terminal brain condition and finds herself in struggling over ethics with the boy’s parents and the hospital staff. In the midst of this difficult moral predicament, Scully is approached by Special Agent Mosley Drummy (Xzibit) to locate her former partner Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). Mulder is needed to help investigate the disappearances of several women, one of whom is a young FBI agent.
Mulder agrees to help as long as Scully tags along. The duo heads to Washington, D.C., where they learn that a pedophile priest (Billy Connolly) has been having visions of crimes that may involve the missing agent. Mulder and Scully must decipher the priest’s clues and find the truth, all while dealing with the ethical dilemma of Scully’s patient and her faith in God, Mulder’s obsession with “wanting to believe,” and the pair’s romantic connection.
While the themes of obsession and faith are certainly strong, The X-Files: I Want to Believe never really gets out of the gate as a convincingly exciting thriller. The chemistry between Mulder and Scully is strange, with the aloofness of their romantic interludes ultimately appropriate to the show’s portrayal of their relationship. Still calling each other by their last names despite sharing a bed, Mulder and Scully’s relationship remains fascinating but the movie doesn’t spend much time exploring it.
In essence, this X-Files film installment works like a half-assed episode of CSI. Some television episodes have more cinematic quality and the whole affair feels rather diminutive and inconsequential. While kudos certainly go to Anderson, many of the other performers simply phone it in (a superfluous Amanda Peet springs to mind). Considering Duchovny’s apparent infatuation with the project and his willingness to forgive the city of Vancouver its precipitation and chill, it’s interesting that he doesn’t look more occupied in the proceedings.
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