The actual quality of the content in a new X-Files movie was probably not going to make much of a difference as to how I was going to end up feeling about it. Unless the movie was mind-blowingly awesome or inexplicably bad, the odds were that I would walk out of the theater just being grateful that I got another chance to see Mulder and Scully in action again. This mindset was strengthened even further when the middling reviews began to slowly creep out late last week. Regardless, what I wanted to believe was that this movie could at the very least, be profitable and strengthen the possibility of there being a third movie. That may very well happen, but not due to the movie being particularly good or drawing significant crowds. The budget for the movie was a scant $30 million, meaning that despite the movie only making approximately $10 million over the weekend (grossing less than The Dark Knight, Step Brothers, and Mamma Mia), by the time it opens in foreign countries $30 million should not be an unreachable goal. Considering the reception the movie has received overall, however, I think this will likely end up being the last installment in the long-running story of Mulder and Scully.
I don't really know if there was one main problem with the movie that kept it from being particularly good or not. Perhaps the biggest issue is that the whole thing just felt unnecessary. Series creator and the writer/director of the movie, Chris Carter made the decision to make this movie the equivalent of a "standalone" or "Monster-of-the-Week" episode of the series, meaning that it would have no connection to the overarching alien conspiracy mythology to the show. That's a fine decision to make that I don't have much of a problem with, so long as you make it worthwhile. In the end, the movie just felt like an extended episode from the later years of the show, and even that's kind of a stretch seeing as the plot of the movie barely seemed to deal with the paranormal. The only thing that made this feel at all like The X-Files was that it featured Mulder and Scully. You could probably have thrown any other two actors in the roles, changed the names of the characters, and you'd have yourself a typical, B-Grade thriller. Of course that would take away the highlight of the movie, an unnecessary but still awesome appearance by Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner near the end of the movie. It drew an audible (positive) reaction from my dad and I despite it clearly being straight-up fan service.
The mistake that was made in the production of this movie was not getting someone else besides Chris Carter to write and direct. If Fox really wanted to revitalize and breathe new life into the franchise, it would probably have been a good idea to let some new blood take the reins and try and take the property into an more interesting direction than what they ended up with. Instead, The X-Files was left in the hands of the very person who let it grow stale in the first place. As a result, we really should not be surprised with what we ended up getting from this movie.
I know I sound really down on the movie and I'm not going to lie, I'm going to end this post soon as it's making me quite depressed. I haven't even mentioned the embarrassing scene of Scully googling stem cell research or the performances of Xzibit (surprisingly not awful) and Amanda "box office poison" Peet. The thing is besides The Simpsons, The X-Files was the first show that ever really grew attached to. It's responsible for my fondness for serialized television and was a part of my father and I's Sunday night routine for a good six years. We even kept watching through the lackluster Duchovny-less final season. But despite how harsh I have been on this movie I can honestly say my dad and I both walked out of the movie feeling that we had been at the very least, entertained. No matter the context, it was good to see Mulder and Scully together again and if that's all there is to be gained from this movie, then so be it.
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