|
| |
 |
| |
| Released: |
2008 |
| |
|
| Genre: |
SCIENCE FICTION
SEQUEL
THRILLER
|
| |
|
| Origin: |
US |
| |
|
| Length: |
105 |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
ANTI Reviews
|
| | | The plea in the movie's subtitle is well placed. The film has the air of a "special episode" of an old TV program that has outlived its intrigue. Directed by series creator Chris Carter, it has much of the slick tensions of the original, but its hermetic investigations of the unexplained feel old-fashioned and absurd now, its battle between pragmatism and faith an artificial war. There's little at stake here, aside from everyone's reputation. It's time to close up the X-Files. The truth, if it's out there, may not be worth knowing. | | | (Jay Stone, Canwest News Service) | | | In the argot of The X-Files, the Truth Is Out There. Too bad it's just the plot of a trashy horror flick. You want the truth? I'll give you the truth. The truth is, The X-Files: I Want to Believe is an atmospheric but disappointing bundle of cliches... The truth is, it should be a better movie. It has no business being this stupid, lackadaisical and schlocky. I realize that the original show ran on Fox a long time, from 1993 to 2002, and broadcast episodes of wide-ranging quality, including a few that even hardcore X-philes might term "schlocky." Remember the one with the Ecuadorian sewer cats? But the truth is, the plot of this film is stupider... The truth is, the movie pays lip service to the show's central theme — the tension between faith and skepticism — but doesn't get much beyond a soapy hospital subplot and the supernatural trappings of a disgraced priest. Can God speak to a pedophile — through him, even? Now, that's an interesting, serious, Jesuitical question, but it's asked on the cusp of a hack-gothic Bruno Mattei plot twist so loony and lurid that I burst out laughing. As Mulder asks near the start, "Who believes in that crap anymore?" The sad truth is, I wanted to. | | | (Amy Biancoli, Houston Chronicle) | | | Just the only question Believe asks of us is the lame and stale "why is God so unfair?" The plot has no aliens, monsters, or things that go bump in the night but it does have Russian scientists kidnapping and playing Frankenstein with young girls. Why? The movie never really goes into it and after sitting through director Chris Carter’s dreary atmosphere and slow tempo, I was just ready to leave the theater and this movie far behind me. It’s disappointing... The X-Files: I Want to Believe was a movie I wanted to believe could still resurrect a love for a past television series but its small-scale approach, lousy story, and dreary tone drown out any excitement in that possibly happening. | | | (Craig Younkin, Lee’s Movie Info) | | | An exercise in mediocrity. It's curious how little of the TV series' charm and appeal can be found in this uneven, plodding excuse for a reunion. Rather than providing a springboard to a movie franchise, this film puts the final nail in The X-Files' coffin. Mulder and Scully can now fade into pop culture history...The film's central "mystery" is painfully underdeveloped. The pedophile priest, in addition to being a walking cliche, adds little to the proceedings, and the revelation about what lies behind the kidnappings and murders is B-grade bad. The film musters a little tension toward the end, with Mulder in peril, but that's in stark contrast to the dull and tedious 90 minutes to precede it. One keeps waiting for I Want to Believe to shift into high gear, and it never does. Do we ever believe that the characters are in danger or that their "mission" means anything? No. The film feels like an excuse for nostalgia. The actors don't seem to care, either. | | | (James Berardinelli, Reelviews) | | | Carter has made a commitment to a more cerebral adventure for his characters, fixating on the discomfort between Mulder and Scully as they assume their old responsibilities. This uneasiness extends to the screenplay, which is heavy with expositional speeches, rendering the film stiff and overindulged at certain points. | | | (Brian Orndorf, Ohmynews) | | | Stretches even willing credulity well beyond its limits. | | | (Jenny McCartney, Sunday Telegraph) | | | | Murky, unconvincing, self-important. | | | (Philip French, Observer) |
|
|
|
