“A for Effort with a C- Grade”
by Little August
About a year ago I was somewhat sadly enclosing the last X-Files series DVD in its Netflix envelope for its trip back to the sorting facility. I had spent about a year on-and-off watching every episode in sequence from start to finish and although it was a lengthy nine seasons of hour-long episodes, I felt smug in my sci-fi nerd state.
So you could imagine my surprise and outburst of joy that I would only truly feel confident expressing in the secluded confines of my own four walls when hours later I found out that Chris Carter was moving forward with a long-awaited X-Files movie. A new movie! Six years after the TV show’s demise! I was oh so close to writing Mr. Carter a letter thanking him for his gutsy move.
And creating this movie, based on a TV series that started in 1993 and eventually fizzled out, was ballsy. Sure, it’s still considered one of the most popular TV series of all time, but there is a perceived gap in the worlds between then and now. Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully belong in the zeitgeist of the Clinton-era ‘90s, and their presence in 2008 at times resembled two ghosts recalled for a séance. Like in Beetlejuice when Adam and Barbara are reconstructed in their wedding clothes in front of the eager crowd who truly wanted the appearance yet quickly turn sour on the idea. Even at the film’s opening when Mulder and Scully walk past a framed picture of George W. Bush, the all-too-familiar X-Files theme by Mark Snow
indicates that these are indeed odd times, and the agents expressions are classic as they seem to say to each other, “what the hell are we doing here?”.The movie’s effort continues as it incorporates a few complex character situations into the creepy plot, such as Billy Connolly’s, Father Joe, who becomes a character of sympathy even though he has a history of child molestation in the church. The film’s themes of redemption and forgiveness even amongst the worst atrocities are a refreshing treat for those of us who came expecting to see FBI agents blowing away aliens and getting sprayed by their flesh-melting green fizzy blood.
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson post solid acting performances, dropping superbly into the roles of their characters who first graced our TV screens 15 years ago. These actors didn’t skip a beat in reassuming these classic roles that belong together in our collective psyche as an indelible mark of pop culture. The energy between the actors benefits from countless hours of character development, and this movie, which takes place in the present day, does quite the job of seamlessly depicting these characters as they would be six years after we left them.
Unfortunately the energy of Mulder and Scully and the herculean effort to reunite the actors and revive their world was not reflected in the overall plot or story flow. This movie is just ok. I would rank it as a somewhat strong episode of the iconic television series, but it unfortunately did not live up to the pent-up expectations after six years of waiting.
There was just too much that was different than my cherished TV X-Files. One example is found in the title of the movie: there are no “X-Files” in the point in time where the movie takes place. Sure, the show evolved from “monster of the day” scenarios to a more intricate character development plot over the years, but the exciting continuity of the show was that Mulder and Scully were assigned to the X-Files. Yes, the literal files: cases of the unexplained that covered the paranormal. Aliens, ghosts, monsters, freaks, you name it, the X-Files covered it. Mulder and Scully were FBI agents who researched these cases and got to look like badasses busting down doors, gun and flashlight in hand, frantically searching the room for God-knows-what. In this movie, our heroes are no longer FBI agents. Scully is a doctor and Mulder is a Unibomber-esque bearded mountain man spinning conspiracies when we first reencounter him. But neither are FBI. They are asked to help the FBI, but come on, that just doesn’t cut it.
It would have been great to pick up on the lives of Agents John Doggett and Monica Reyes (Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish), who on the TV series were cast into an awkward situation to fill in for Mulder and Scully, who were increasingly not on the show. These characters could have sustained the show on their own, past the stories of Mulder and Scully, but unfortunately they do not appear in the film. Instead, we are introduced to new characters, agents Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) and Mosley Drummy (Xzibit), whose presence in the film is uninspiring and unneeded.
There are good character additions to counter-balance this, however. For example the “bad guy” in it has a truly great, creepy, gruesome situation that is as good as any other X-Files monster (I won’t give it away). The best moment of the film by far is the reintroduction of Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi). Yes, that’s A.D. Skinner to you fans. This guy is a total badass, and his presence in the film is commanding. There were more than a few imperial storm trooper nerds in the crowd that uttered yelps of joy when he came onto the screen.
So what is the outcome of this effort to reunite the X-Files cast and resurrect the franchise? I’d give it a “so-so,” or a C-. And I hate to say that. I wish I could say this was one of the best movies of the summer because it was such a fantastic TV show that, for the fans, could have kept going longer than the 9 seasons we were given. In this case, I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe that this would be the definitive showboat glass-shattering slam dunk that would put an explanation point on the series. Instead, I got a lengthy episode that was mostly lukewarm.
I still want to thank Chris Carter and the actors for making this movie, even though it didn’t live up to the fans’ hype. And I’m not recommending that you don’t see this movie in the theaters. This sort of effort needs to be rewarded.
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