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The X Files (1998)
Rating: 5 1/2
Dir: Rob Bowman
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Main Players: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson
Story: Mulder and Scully investigate the bombing of a government building and this leads them to the truth they have been seeking for 5 years (seasons).
Comment: This was supposed to be the show that explains it all. This was supposed to be the show that tells us how all the "alien episodes" spread over 5 seasons fit together. This was supposed to be the show where we get out money's worth and actually see Mulder and Scully not be platonic anymore.
But sadly, this is not the show. You'll waste your money if you watch it to see a nice "tying-up" of the TV series, or even if you want to see a good movie. It doesn't answer your questions, it just hints at answers and tells you: Wait for the next season you chump !
What could have been a simple 3-episode deal was tediously made into a movie. What could have been free over TV was peddled to us at the price of a movie ticket. Oh, you'll watch it. If you've been watching all the X Files episodes rabidly as I have, you'll watch the movie. But if you're as rabid a fan as I am, you'll feel cheated. Why?
OK, let's go down that road: For one, you won't get the theme song. We've been programmed for 5 years to expect a teaser, the theme song and then the show. James Bond did it. Why did they miss such a simple element to the mix? Now, this would have been forgivable if the music throughout the movie was good. It wasn't. It's just like some re-hashed music to the TV series. Louder and more boring - I might add.
Next, we've got our FBI agents. After 5 years, we've forgotten that their names are actually Fox and Dana. Mulder and Scully, Mulder and Scully, Mulder and Scully, ... they're like our friends. And what does Chris Carter do to these two agents?
He sends them to cinematic hell - note to Carter: A movie is not a TV series. Scully often has too much make-up on. Mulder gets an attitude. Their chemistry is all wrong - They don't joke about who pulls a better prank - they give opposite views to a subject and the humour lies within the discourse. Carter's screenplay is, in a word: ROUGH. Compared to some of the best episodes in the series, the dialogue here is downright shameful. Any 10-year-old could have written some of the lines.
So, should you see this? If you're a fan, you probably have. If you haven't you'd better since you won't be able to follow the story in the 6th. season if you don't watch the movie. What if you're a total stranger to The X Files? Well, save your money and watch TV instead. It's free and it's usually better - most of the times.
Conclusion: Such a pity. Could have been so much better. I suppose Carter got blinded by the lights of Hollywood and forgot how to tell a good story.
Chris Carter: Creator, executive producer, and sometimes writer and director of The X Files series on TV.