There has been more secrecy surrounding the story of the latest X-Files movie than there is about the agenda of a Bilderbergers’ meeting or George Bush’s literacy grades. As is befitting of The X-Files the screenplay was only shown on a need to know basis and all copies of it were destroyed at the end of the day’s shooting. But was all the secrecy really necessary?
As a marketing ploy it certainly has some mileage, and the average X-Files fan is more likely to be enticed by secrecy than by blatant marketing hype, and for a cult TV series that has been of the air for six years it’s going to need something to tempt the faithful into the cinema. Now, I have never been a fan of the series, not because I don’t like it, but because when it was showing in its heyday I was living in a foreign country with neither the time nor the inclination to watch TV of any type, and then I just never got around to catching up. This is all a little strange because anything about conspiracy theories is right up my street, although I have recently become a big fan of the spin-off series The Lone Gunmen.
I was aware of the characters of Mulder and Scully and what they did, more through osmosis than through experience, so they weren’t a complete mystery to me, but with very little knowledge of The X-Files mythology I was seeing the new movie I WANT TO BELIEVE through fresh eyes.
In keeping with films secrecy I’ll not reveal too much of the films story, which is my usual policy anyway. Suffice to say that Mulder and Scully are brought out of ‘retirement’ to help investigate a case of a missing FBI agent and a psychic with a rather dodgy past, played with great conviction by Billy Connolly. Befitting the title, Scully’s scepticism is really challenged this time, which is the main theme of the film, with rapper Xzibit taking over as the hardcase non-believer.
I’m sure fans of the series will be glad to see their favourite investigators back on the job, but for those, like me, without such strong allegiances this is a fairly average cop procedural (with psychics). There’s not a lot of tension (not even of the famed sexual kind between the two leads) or surprises, or scares for that matter. The trouble is there have been so many really good genre movies over the last few months (THE DARK KNIGHT, IRON MAN, HELLBOY II) and also so much excellent TV coming out of the US that this movie just doesn’t seem to have the impact it might have had five years ago. It still looks like an extended TV episode, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and watching anything half-decent in the cinema is still a much better experience than watching it at home, providing, of course, that the cinema has decent seats and sound.
If you are a regular cinema-goer then this is definitely the best film on release this week genre wise, although LA ANTENA is having another run at the ICA ahead of its DVD release.
THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE is on general release this Friday from Twentieth Century Fox. It is showing at our favourite luxury cinema, the Apollo West End (which does have great seats and sound) and they have given us two pairs of tickets to see the film.
Instead of running the usual e-mail competition, to get the tickets you just have to phone the Apollo on 020 7451 9944 and mention SCI-FI-LONDON when you book your tickets for I WANT TO BELIEVE and the fifth and the tenth person to book them will get a pair for free.
For more X-Files competition goodies click here.
Listen to our podcast of Alex Fitch interviewing Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz about the series and the new movie…