After five years since the television series concluded, The X-Files finally returns with their second cinematic adventure, The X-Files: I Want to Believe
Like many other reviewers I’ve read since the cinematic debut of this film, I wasn’t initially particularly thrilled with the story, but I was very much thrilled to see Mulder and Scully back together again after all these years. This film doesn’t completely fill in the blank since they left the FBI, but it gives you a pretty strong idea as to what’s been going on the whole time.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe, like its predecessor, X-Files: Fight The Future, begins in the snow, with two blended scenes. One scene shows a woman returning home at night and defending herself with a hand rake against some shady people as she leaves her garage, the other is of dozens of FBI agents marching across a sunlit snowy field, each prodding the snow as they walk with a sounding rod. With the help of a wild-haired psychic Father Joe (Billy Connolly – Boondock Saints, Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day) They come across a dismembered arm bearing wounds from the rake.
When you watch the special features you’ll learn that it was decided early on that this new film would not deal with the running X-Files mythology. It was stipulated by many involved that this needed to be a stand-alone story, accessible to those not familiar with The X-Files at all. Chris Carter also claimed it would also have enough nostalgia for the long time fans so that we could appreciate this as a continuation of the franchise. Did they succeed?
The X-Files: I Want to Believe is often described as the X-Files movie that’s not an X-File. I must disagree. The X-Files: I Want to Believe actually features two X-Files: Father Joe’s psychic powers and the head-transplanting abilities of “Doctor Frankenstein”.
Special Features
This Blu-ray Ultimate X-Phile Edition features a ton of extras. The claim on the case about “over 3 hours of revealing special features” is no joke, but Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz going on and on about the detail and lengths to which they went to obfuscate the identity and content of this movie, is kind of laughable. If you find yourself wondering why they’re so full of themselves and shouting at your screen, “Who cares?!?” then you’re in good company.
Not to worry though, there are a ton of very interesting featurettes without the air of megalomania that the 3-part Trust No One: Can the X-Files Remain a Secret? documentary carries. Here’s the full list:
-BD-Live Interactive Feature: The Dakota Whitney Files – Solve a case online on your Blu-ray player or on your computer.
-Theatrical and Extended cuts of the film
-Audio Commentary by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
-Trust No One: Can the X-Files Remain a Secret?
-Chris Carter: Statements on Green Production featurette – Learn how Fox and Ten Thirteen go green and reduce emissions and maximize recycling while producing this film.
-BONUSVIEW Picture-in-Picture Commentary by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
-Visual Effects Featurette – very realistic bodies. I was expecting the whole time that one was going to be a real actor and just get up.
-Interactive Timeline – This may be the whole reason to buy this Blu-ray. You can read synopses and watch clips from EVERY X-Files episode. Wow.
-Enhanced for D-Box Motion Control Systems (Can your home theatre chairs move with the action? This Blu-ray disc is compatible!)
-Deleted Scenes (Can I get a “Play All” selection?)
-Gag Reel – A long look at the cast botching lines and blocking. It’s well worth watching and damn funny.
-Still Galleries
-a second disc containing Digital Copy of The X-Files: I Want to Believe to watch of your Laptop, iPhone, or other portable device.
The bottom line is, we’ve missed seeing Mulder and Scully and after this teaser of a film, we want to see more. So this particular movie didn’t take off and do the $189M like the first film, so what? It’s even better on Blu-ray at 1080p with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, and it made money and whetted the appetites of X-Philes all over again. Chris, David, and Gillian? Make us a third X-Files film! You know you want to, you know we need it before Christmas of 2012, and you know we’ll go see it.
ComicsOnline gives The X-Files: I Want to Believe 4 out of 5 dismembered heads whispering wishes for a third film.
(Also, we want agent Drummy back again next time to pimp our X-Files! Who knew he could act?)
