It’s been six years since agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully signed off their long-running flirtation (and their side job, investigations into the paranormal), leaving fans of the “X-Files” TV show to speculate on what the cute couple has been up to since then.
“The X-Files: I Want to Believe” is the answer. The movie’s opening reels leave us guessing about the current nature of the relationship between Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson), and those revelations are amusingly delayed.
After a hiatus from government work, the duo is called back to duty by the feds. In the snows of West Virginia, someone has kidnapped an FBI agent, and a disgraced priest (Billy Connolly) with ostensibly psychic powers is on the case.
Mulder, of course, believes the priest might catch a brainwave and provide an answer; Scully is skeptical. Along the way, there are many significant glances shared between the two, some inspired by details that only faithful fans will recognize.
There’s also a lot of snow and gloom. “I Want to Believe” was filmed in and around Vancouver, B.C., the location for the TV show’s first few seasons, and the return to the damp is a good thing. You can almost see the mold growing in Mulder’s beard.
Series creator Chris Carter, who also directed, has conceived this film as a stand-alone installment of the “X-Files” universe, not a continuation of the larger mythology of the show. That means you don’t have to be steeped in series lore to get the plot.
Nevertheless, there are still references to Mulder’s dead sister and the couple’s history. Rest assured that the story line, which involves some Russians pursuing a very peculiar form of surgical prowess, is sufficiently X-creepy.
Both Duchovny and Anderson look decidedly older. Maybe the passing of years accounts for their chemistry feeling tired, or maybe the material is just a little too obviously bottom-drawer. Mulder’s flicker of interest in an FBI agent (Amanda Peet) promises more than it delivers.
The gravity of Mulder and Scully constantly worrying about whether aliens and/or God exist weighs heavily over two hours. Maybe some TV ideas are just right for an hourly series, but not quite contoured for the big screen. “The X-Files” feels like one of those.
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