Mulder and Scully are back and that's, well, that's OK. I wasn't beside myself when I heard there was a second X Files movie being released earlier this year but it's a pretty steady Sci-Fi franchise which generally delivers just what you expect without veering too far away from what made the 90s show so successful. This second Big Screen outing for our favorite FBI chums has them on familiar turf with Mulder being drafted back into the fold with a case that will allow him to spar with Scullys scepticism and prove to his suited bosses at the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building that he is not a UFO spotting quack.The movie centers around a convicted ex-Priest and child predator, played by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, who has visions (including optical stigmata!) surrounding a missing FBI agent. The links between the Catholic Church and child molestation are played out a little clumsily but it allows director Chris Carter to examine Scully's own lapsed beliefs. This is also an X Files flick and not something deeper so we can't expect to subtle a treatment of such a delicate subject. The movie plays out in the dead of winter, full of frozen lakes, freezing winds and heavy snow creating an atmosphere of claustrophobia that works well to increase the tension and mood of 'clock ticking' despair as the hunt continues for the killers and kidnappers from the visions.
There is a side plot running parallel through the movie concerning Scully's inability to find a cure for a sick child which also allows us to see her religious beliefs in a way we may not have done before. While I see that she is too one dimensional as the sceptic half of the duo I am not sure this was particularly convincing in trying to make her character a more rounded person dealing with the challenges of having to give up their (Mulder and Scully's) son for adoption. It was interesting though to see how empty these peoples lives were as if their jobs and what they had been through had made them want to withdraw from society. In the opening scenes of the movie we see Mulder living a cabin fever/hermit like existence in rural Virginia, in the home he has made with Scully, surrounding himself with 'proof' that there is more out there than we realize.
Carter does a nice job of taking including the audience on the journey that is the definition of Mulder and Scully's relationship. Allowing us to understand the frustration she has with his obsession with the X Files and how this ultimately doesn't let them lead normal fulfilled lives. We are engaged in this personal discovery and the central plot most of the way through the movie until Scully uncovers who is behind the kidnapping and why ...it is at this point we have entered the realm of the bonkers. The climax of the plot leaves you stunned that all this tension lead to this. I will let you find out for yourself when you watch the flick but I wasn't impressed and would have preferred a slightly more sophisticated ending for a franchise that is surely targeting a thinking audience. The movie left me with the question as to whether Mulder and Scully should have ever made the leap from Small to Big Screen as while I enjoyed the movie I felt I would prefer to have watched a new 45 minute TV episode where the entertainment expectations were real and achievable.
So I would say this is certainly worth it for a Friday night DVD rental if for nothing else than to watch the very competent acting of Duchovny and Anderson and the debut of Xzibit on the Big Screen (yes I had to do a double take to make sure it was him!). Oh and watch a few minutes into the end credits there is a very funny and decidedly non-X Files moment between the two leads!
Rating: ***
0 comments:
Post a Comment