In case you haven't guessed from this blogs title, I am a little bit of a fan of the X Files. Actually I was a huge fan of Fox Mulder. (although I have to admit that I think David Duchovny is pretty spiffy too). I loved Mulder's quirky intelligence and his seemly lack of awareness of just how attractive he was both physically and emotionally. This was explored in my favorite episode in the series, "Small Potatoes". The series explored the gamut from alien abductions, serial killers, monsters, to reincarnation ("The Field Where I Died" another great episode). It even poked fun at itself (epically in the episode, "Jose Chung's From outer Space") and shocked and even offended us at times (do you recall the episode "Home"? or "Unruhe"?) It even had some very respected guest writers (Stephen King on "Chinga" for example) and guest stars (like the voice of Jodie Foster in "Never Again" for one. This is also a good episode for Scully fans by the way). The series ran almost 10 years and left many unanswered questions when it went off the air.
Well, I am sorry to say that most of your questions won't be answered by this film. Maybe Carter thought he would improve the box office sales this time around by making this second X-files film more accessible to audiences that hadn't been fans of the series. I liked the first film but I have to admit, if you hadn't watched the series, you would have been lost. I think this film won't do that but it will make fans of the series long for some of the feel and subject matter (like answers to some of those unanswered questions!!!)of the original series. Do I like it that Mulder and Scully are together, yes, but it only leaves you asking MORE QUESTIONS! This film doesn't offer many clues into what the protagonist have been doing in the past 6 years to come to be where they are today. I guess you could assume that Mulder has been a recluse all of that time but if that were true, would Scully have stood by and enabled him? Not the Scully we knew from the series. I was almost desperate to find out more about William, their son, and when he was mentioned, I was ever so hopeful and waited the rest of the film for more. The only "more" that came was, you guessed it, MORE QUESTIONS! The story itself felt more like an one of the stand alone episodes and if that is what Carter was aiming for, then he succeeded but considering this is a 2 hour film, he could have done better. I think he tried to bring too many "relevant" issues (like; gay marriage, catholic priest molestation scandal, and stem cell research)into the plot to make the story seem more relevant and current but the result was all over the place. You have to wait through the end credits for an additional scene that will leave you with, yep, more questions.
I wonder if even without having to compete with the likes of "The Dark Knight", if the box office take would have been disappointing. I still enjoyed watching this film, if nothing else just to see how well Duchovny and Anderson breathe such life into their characters and yes because I still practcally swoon over Mulder. I was unfortuantely left with a sad longing for more and for what might have been. Not to mention the nostalgia and a desire to go home and break out my boxed set of the orginal series.
I want to belive that this isn't the last we will see of Mulder and Scully but I unfortunately trust no one can say what the future (fighting it or not)will hold for them after this film. I can only hope that they will be back again with answers to some of those questions otherwise they might have to revise the old joke, How do you keep a X-Files fan guessing, I'll show you next film.
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