Can you believe it has actually been ten years since the last X-Files film?! Ten years without Mulder and Scully chasing ghosts in the dark and being caught in the middle of some scheme plotted by insidious men. After sitting through this film, I find myself undecided if it has been too long to add a new chapter to this series or not long enough.

Time has passed. Mulder (David Duchovny) is no longer with the FBI and has become a recluse in his home office. Scully (Gillian Anderson) moved on continuing her career as a doctor at a Catholic hospital. When an FBI agent goes missing and the only lead they have is a former priest and pedophile claiming to have psychic visions, the agency turns to Mulder for his expertise who drags Scully into the fray.

This new film takes us back to the basics of what made the original TV series such a hit. It examines the unexplainable and addresses it using solid investigating and science. This makes sense as Mulder and Scully have been out of the game for a while. Throwing them into a really complicated plot without having it set up in the TV series as the first film did could have felt forced. While it’s good the film goes back to its roots, it feels like an episode from one of the first couple of seasons and not a larger story deserving of a theatrical release.

The title I Want To Believe, fitting for this film, if incredibly obvious and repetitious, especially when Mulder looks directly into the camera and says it as dialog. Belief is a theme that saturates the story in both paranormal activity and religion. The writers did a good job interweaving them in a fashion that is compelling but by the time every character has to look at his or her own beliefs, it gets old.

There are some parts in this film that simply feel awkward. The first thing is the relationship between Mulder and Scully. They are pitted at odds with each other as usual. The weirdness comes from their conversations. Much has happened between the two films. Some events get mentioned only to go unaddressed for the rest of the movie leaving you scratching your head. While the nature of The X-Files is to be mysterious and leave questions unanswered, this isn’t something that helps in this instance.

Another thing that seemed odd was the lack of paranormal activity. One guy that may or may not have psycic visions isn’t a lot of fuel for the fans hoping for something more… intriguing. The plot itself is sound, providing plenty of twists and turns that will be perfectly exciting for someone that loves crime stories but when resurrecting a franchise with such a strong fan base, something a bit more extreme may have been in order.

I honestly enjoyed this film but it wasn’t what I had hoped for. If you really liked the first several seasons of the X-Files TV series, then you’ll probably love this film. If you were more partial to the complicated plots that came later in the series you could end up disappointed. My suggestion? Flip a coin. Heads, go see this retro take on X-Files. Tails, use that as an excuse to go watch The Dark Knight again.

Verdict | Flip a Coin!

That was the best movie I have sat through in the movie theater in a long time and for them to be able to come back together after 10 years and make a movie that great is a great accomplishment.

Aw… poor Scully and Mulder. Sad times at the box office. No one cares about you anymore.