Rent The X-files: Fight the Future on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz (story), Chris Carter (screenplay)
Directed by: Rob Bowman
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, John Neville, William B. Davis, Martin Landau, Mitch Pileggi, Blythe Danner, Terry O'Quinn, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Lucas Black, Dean Haglund, Bruce Harwood, Tom Bradwood
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
Mulder and Scully must fight the government in a conspiracy and find the truth about an alien colonization of Earth.
Verdict
The crazy thing is that this movie tie-in does manage to stand on its own and bridge two seasons. Has a current series ever had a movie release while the series was airing? Excluding everything else from the franchise, this is a serviceable government alien conspiracy movie. Including the rest of the franchise, this movie is a vital chapter in the series.
On the surface, two FBI agents uncover a giant conspiracy. The story works, especially when it released. You can't fight the government coverup or the future. Mulder and Scully uncover more conspiracies, but they're opposition is vast. It's enjoyable if a bit vapid when it comes to details. It still manages to touch upon a lot of aspects from the series, avoids extensive exposition, and remains entertaining. I'm not sure any movie has ever done what this one has, and this isn't an easy success. As an X-Files fan it's a must watch
It depends.
Review
The movie occurs between the fifth and sixth seasons of the television show. At the end of the fifth season, Mulder and Scully's X-Files department had come to a premature end. At one point season five was planned to be the final season with the
franchise spawning movies, but Fox brought it back for more seasons. It's wild that a television show has a movie in the middle that continues the story, then goes back to another season, but The X-files was just that successful. This also coincided with the show's filming location moving from Vancouver to Los Angeles for seasons six and thereafter. This comes across as more of a big budget, extended length episode. The film is meant to stand on it's own, but if you've never seen the series, you're missing out on a lot of backstory.
I started watching the series midway through the second season as it aired and through season eight. I later bought the entire DVD set and watched all nine seasons. I watched through the seasons a second time, and have seen some seasons three or four times. I saw both movies when they released, though I Want to Believe was disappointing. I watched the X-files mini-series, excited to see the show again despite my misgivings. While no episode was even above average, it was a fun nostalgia trip. Unfortunately the series was brought back for an eleventh season. Certainly the newer seasons have a different style from the original, but it made Mulder and Sculler more action heroes that investigators.
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| Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny play Dana Scully and Fox Mulder |
Basically the creator of the show wanted to make a feature length episode free of time and budget constraints. It's a level of polish the show didn't have. The tone is very different and the shots are less utility. The one thing the movie loses is the tone. The series has done the best job I've ever seen of creating a creepy mood. This movie never has that vibe, and part of that is that it's aiming for big. It's got many locations, a big conspiracy, and even a few aliens.
Series creator Chris Carter wanted to tell a bigger story, and this certainly does that with a prologue set in 35,000 BC. Aliens have always been on Earth. There's another scene that provides typical X-Files creepiness before we finally get to Agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). It's clear early in the movie that the budget is much bigger than any episodes the show had. It's fun to see how the shots and overall feel differ from the show.
This certainly does a good job of establishing the characters if you aren't familiar with them. This does a great job of setting up the plot. Sure there's a lot of information preceding this movie, but it isn't necessary for the movie. The movie, like the series, is about the search for truth and fighting a government that will cover it up to protect self interests. Conspiracies are real and no one can be trusted. There's an alien virus on the loose and Mulder and Scully must track it down.
The plot certainly takes some leaps. Out of leads as they try to follow tanker trucks, they take a dirt road, stop at train tracks and just happen to see trucks on a train passing by and manage to follow the train to the next plot revelation. The coincidences of the entire situation are ridiculous.
Later bees carrying a virus are released. How would the government track the bees and who was stung? It's a neat idea with a few flaws.
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| Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny play Dana Scully and Fox Mulder |
What the movie adds in budget, it loses in tone. Most episodes of the original series were downright creepy. The tone was dark and ominous. The movie isn't. That's not a criticism, just a comparison. I'm impressed with how this does such a great job of standing alone while keeping the overall idea of the series. The government conspiracy aspect of the show was a big reason people were interested. The characters and stories kept people watching.
It's a fun if underwhelming conspiracy movie on it's own. As part of The X-files series and franchise, it's a must watch. Carter had the opportunity to go big and take it. I can't blame him, but it's that mentality that changes the mood the show did so well at creating. I'd love for this to point out the little ways the government controls people and covers up exploits. A giant alien base isn't that. I do like that despite Mulder and Scully's efforts, they didn't stop the government. They just delayed and made them move operations elsewhere. That was always the struggle they faced in the series. They were fighting an entity so much bigger than they.
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