X-Files 2: I Want to Believe = steaming pile of dog sh*t

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  • #13293
    RatBoy
    Participant

    Being a longtime dedicated viewer and lifelong fan of this great series. All I can say is Chris Carter flicked his middle finger to the fans with this steaming turd.

    My review forthcoming.

    #25665
    gumbloid
    Participant

    INHO, it was disappointing, but not a steaming pile of poo.  It reminded me of what the Star Trek franchise did with Insurrection.  Star Trek Insurrection and X-Files: I Want to Believe were more like extended episodes instead of movies.

    #25782
    Steve Dunlap
    Participant

    Gumbloid, I totally get where you're coming from.

    Now granted I did not see the second X-files movie…in fact, I never even saw the first film in its entirety, however, I do get where you're coming from with Star Trek Insurrection.

     

    Indeed, the first three Trek (Next Generation) movies felt like overblown two-hour episodes to me.   They were written by small screen writers (although I loved Ronald D. Moore's work through much of TNG and DS9, and his work for the new Battlestar Galactica), and  First Contact and Insurrection were directed by a TV director (Jonathan Frakes)….and Generations was directed by a small screen (TV) director.     The results were completely obvious.   To the casual observer, the first three TNG films of TREK  were just “what episode is this?”.

     

    Nemesis, the fourth TNG Trek film, despite splitting the fanbase down the middle, was at least written partially by a big screen writer (John Logan, Gladiator) and directed by a big screen director (Stuart Baird, Executive Decision, and before all that…an excellent editor of many films).   For me, Nemesis was my favorite of the TNG films because it had a genuinely big-screen feel to it…and did not feel like an overblown episode the way Generations, First Contact, and Insurrection did.   It was certainly the least favored of all four TNG films, and with good reason, but I loved it….hell, the last half of the movie was one big space battle.

     

    Now, that said, that's why I was also disappointed in “Serenity” as “Firefly”'s big screen outing.

     

    Here's where I think part of the problem lies….   visual FX.    Let's face it…a lot of television visual effects are almost on par with a lot of big screen visual FX we see today, largely thanks to Computer Generated Imagery (CGI).   Shows like Firefly and the new Battlestar Galactica were too big for the small screen, and yet, a movie like Serenity, in my humble opinion, was just too small for the big screen.  The movie plays nice on Blu-Ray, but when I saw it on the big screen, I was severely disappointed.   The story was excellent, don't get me wrong, but I expect a big screen feel out of a sci-fi epic such as Serenity, and I just didn't get that.

     

    So was my feelings for the first three Trek TNG films.   Appy-polly loggies for my repetitive nature….a few drinks I've had.  🙂

    #25997
    kokumo
    Participant

    I want to believe is very much like an episode of the series. Had it been an episode it would have been considered one of the best. It simply wasn't the blockbuster the fans wanted. It wasn't the kind of movie destined to earn 100 mill on it's opening weekend. It was dismissed in Hollywood who have no eye or interest in under-performers. I go over to chat rooms on the imdb and people are chatting about John Carter's box office & overseas haul & how much it dropped between monday & wed & just scratch my head in wonder. Very little about it is even about the movie. And that seems to be the mindset people have going in to movies in the millennium where everything is expected to open as wide as The Dark Knight & earn X dollars before X date on schedule. It's crazy. People think they're cub reporters for variety.

     

    That mindset damaged I Want to Believe going in. The actor who played the fallen priest deserved an oscar nomination for supporting actor. The film was loaded with refs & injokes to satisfy hardcore fans. Moulder & Scully are magic together. What's not to love? It was a very smart film & smartly directed while still embracing it's trashy roots in z movies like The Brain That Would Not Die. What Chris Carter got onscreen on that budget is a solid achievement and stands as testiment to how good a genre movie can be without shelling out 250 million to redo The Lone Ranger with werewolves and an additional 100 million spent on PR to drive the heards into the theatres to feed that all important opening weekend.

    #26492
    ReganMacNeilfan
    Participant

    Saw this in theaters and was like boring!

    #26719
    RatBoy
    Participant

    X-Files: I don't Want To Believe what I just seen.
    I loved the entire X-Files series (although, I found the 7th season to be very weak).

    I also loved the first X-Files movie. It was beautifully crafted and brilliantly book ended by the previous season finale and the following season opener. I paid to see the movie twice that Summer. Chris Carter showed a healthy respect towards the fans back then and the movie answered alot of questions from the previous seasons.

    That's an X-Files movie done right!

    This curent movie is pure letdown on all levels.

    First Chris Carter in his own words flicked his middle finger to longtime viewers by making this a stand alone story because he wanted to cater to an audiance that never bothered to watch the series rather than the longtime loyal fans who helped make the series a hit for 9 years.

    However, the stand alone story was only part of the problem. The story, the characters and the situations were a total contradiction to what was established during the run of the TV series. It was as if season 7 through 9 never existed. Scully is once again a hard core skeptic (a complete contrast to her new found beliefs during the latter half of seasons 7 through 9) and Mulder's motivation is once again drivem by his obsession of his sister's abuction. I guess Chris Carter wanted longtime fans to forget about the the two part episode “Sein Und Zeit” and “Closure” (one of the few gems from season 7), where Mulder finally solves the case on his missing sister and comes to terms with her death. To me it was insulting to see two characters that I followed for nine seasons develope backwards like that.

    The fact that the FBI was succesfully been infiltrated by the aliens and slowly taking over the field office (which was establish on the series finale) is not addressed nor even hinted in this movie.

    The fates of Dogget and Kersh and the role they played in Mulder's escape is never addressed nor mentioned and AD Skinner has a meaningless cameo durring a very anti climatic ending.

    There was very little to no paranormal elements in the movie and it played out like an episode of CSI:Washington DC.

    Not to mention that the movie was overall very boring.

    I thought it was totaly weak how they tried to resolve the Mulder and Scully being wanted fugitives (as the TV series ended).

    The fact that the FBI was ignoring Mulder is bad writing. Mulder was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He's an escape convict on death row wanted by the FBI and the millitary.

    It's asinine to just assume that the FBI would just ignore an escaped convicted murderer on death row because and that they're glad that he's out of their hair (for his beliefs in the paranormal) as Scully stated.

    It makes even less sense is that high ranking officials from within FBI feild office are aliens that see Mulder and Scully as a threat and not bother to find them while they're on the FBI most wanted list.

    And let us not forget that Scully too was a wanted fugitive at the end of the series finale. Deputy Director Kersh told them both to leave the country to avoid capture.

    This movie totally retcons Scully's status as of never been a fugitive and she is roaming around free practicing medicine.

    Now “all is forgiven” by the FBI because they need Mulder's help on a case that's hardly qualifies as an X=File?

    This is just terrible writing and very insulting to a longtime viewer of the series to just simply gloss over these matters like that.

    Yes, Mulder cracked a few funny one liners and there were about two or three good classic Mulder and Scully moments and Ray's father, Clyde was mentioned…. but overall this movie was very insulting to the majority of longtime viewer that followed the series until the end…. atleast to me it was.

    Please Fox, do the right thing and 86 Chris Carter and bring in some fresh new talent to retool the X-Files for a kick ass 3rd movie!

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