The X-Files: I Want to Believe
(July 25, 2008)

In a nutshell: Women are disappearing, and the FBI wants
Mulder's help.  Meanwhile, Dr. Scully is dealing with a
seriously ill young patient.  It could have worked, but it
didn't.

What I liked:
-  Mulder!
-  Scully!
-  Mulder and Scully together again!
-  Shippiness!
-  Pencils in the ceiling!
-  M&S in bed together!
-  Sunflower seeds!
-  M&S kissing!
-  Skinner! (but see my complaint below)
-  I thought Billy Connolly did a nice job as the ex-priest.
-  Did I mention M&S together again?  I really can't mention that
enough, despite my concerns below.
-  OMG, a Mulder "package" comment from Scully (and a Mulder
"thank you")!  That alone was worth the price of admission.

What I didn't like:
-  The Amanda Peet and Xzibit characters -- they were utterly
one-dimensional, especially the latter.  I wasn't at all sorry
to see Amanda Peet's character die (and was it just me, or did
she seem to have a thing for Mulder?), although Xzibit's
character probably deserved it more.
-  The plot.  WTF was going on?  Why were only women being taken
if they were trying to "reassemble" a man?  Why were various
body parts being disposed of in various places when the Russians
had a pile of body parts in their backyard?  Couldn't they have
just buried all the stuff they couldn't use on their own
property?  How did that Russian guy find out that the women they
abducted had the right blood type?  Why did he run Mulder off
the road and then just leave him there (rather than kill him) if
he knew that Mulder was following him?  How did Mulder manage to
wind up at the Russian's compound?  How did SCULLY manage to
wind up at the Russian's compound?  (OK, OK, she got an address
from that "25 - 2" mailbox -- so how did she and Skinner manage
to drive by that mailbox?)  There were so many bizarre things in
the plot that I can't remember them all.  It reminds me of S8
and S9 (in particular) because I thought the plots of those eps
needed some serious editing.  Where the hell is Darin Morgan
when you need him?
-  The young boy that Scully was treating, in a Catholic
hospital, was named "Christian."  Hello, Acme Anvil Company? 
Could you please drop one of your heaviest anvils on my head
ASAP?
-  What was the point of the whole "sick young boy" plot anyway?
To be a comparison to William?  To show that hospital
administrators are Evil?  To be a big flat plot device so Scully
could have a reason to come across those gross pictures of the
"grafted" dogs, or whatever the hell those were?  (Yuck.)
-  Skinner was trotted out for only a few minutes; he could have
been used in a much better way.  While I was delighted to see
him (and Mulder/Skinner shippers will get a thrill *g*) it felt
much like "The Truth," when numerous old cast members were
paraded in front of the camera for a few minutes for no
particularly good reason.
-  Why on earth did Scully get upset about Mulder getting back
into XF-type work WHEN SHE'S THE ONE WHO GOT HIM INVOLVED IN THE
FIRST PLACE?  What the hell did she think was going to happen
when she dragged him back in?
-  Speaking of "what the hell": what the hell was going on with
M&S's relationship?  One minute Scully basically told Mulder
that they were through (!!!) and wouldn't be going home, then
she showed up at home, then Mulder said something about how they
couldn't be together, and then they were together again.  Can
someone explain that to me, because I need a map.

What's got me puzzled:
-  What has Mulder been doing for the last 6 years (aside from
growing a beard) while Dr. Scully has been bringing home the
bacon?
-  What was the point of having all the pedophiles living in the
same place?
-  How did CC get the financial backing for this movie?  Did the
studio even read the script before they signed the check?

Etc.:
-  I'm not sure how I feel about the mentions of William and
Samantha.  While it's nice that they were included for the
benefit of us long-time fans, it just didn't seem to serve any
purpose.  (Besides, whatever happened to Samantha being
starlight?  Oh, never mind.  I don't even want to go there.)
-  Whoa.  Did I actually hear Scully tell Mulder that she's in
love with him?  I want to like that revelation, but since it
went along with Mulder's comment about how they can't be
together (grrrrr) it lost its value to me.
-  I got a kick out of seeing some of the names on Mulder's
cellphone: above Scully's name were "Bowman" and "Gilligan". *g*
 (I'm sure there were others that I didn't catch.)
-  Did I imagine it, or did Chris Carter put in a cameo?  Wasn't
that him sitting on the bench in the hall of the hospital?
-  M&S at the end of the credits, in the boat waving at the
camera: I can only assume that that was CC's way of having M&S
(or DD & GA) acknowledge us fans, saying "thanks for going on
this 15-year ride with us."  If I look at it that way, it works
for me.  Otherwise... WTF? *g*
-  I can't stop myself from comparing IWTB to Fight the Future. 
But, quite frankly, there's no comparison.  FTF had a
good/coherent plot, good supporting characters, and
good/consistent M&S interaction.  IWTB... does not.  I saw FTF a
dozen time in the movie theater; I'm not sure if I'll be able to
bring myself to go see IWTB a second time.
-  Overall, I'm sad to say that this movie missed the mark, and
in quite a dramatic fashion.  The first word that I could think
of to describe my feeling at the end of the movie was
"heartbroken".  After six years, was this really the best that
they could do?  I can only hope that TPTB will be willing to
greenlight another movie thinking that TXF will do a good job
with every other movie, similar to the Star Trek movie
franchise.  I want to believe that this sad excuse for the
X-Files will not be the last I get to see of Mulder and Scully.
***