Belief is synonymous with faith. It has to do with accepting a concept that cannot be seen, touched, or somehow verified with our physical senses. Unlike science with its reliance on testing and retesting, belief is dependant solely on emotion and a nebulous feeling that whatever it may be, it is real.
Belief has always laid at the heart of The X-Files. After all, one of the most famous icons from the show (where the movie gets its subtitle from) is Mulders poster of a UFO with the phrase “I Want to Believe” printed under it. That desire to believe, fueled by his sisters abduction by aliens when they were children, along with his desire to make sure that no one else has to go through that kind of pain, drives Mulders every action. Most of the time this is an asset; its what made him such a good agent, but at times his desire to believe can get the better of him, and sometimes will have Mulder seeing monsters where there are only windmills.
Thats where his partner comes in. Dana Scully works as Mulders counterpoint with her own set of beliefs that she is just as passionate about as Mulder is to his. Scullys beliefs center on the often contradictory realms of science and religion, and she tends to ground Mulders far-fetched ideas in her typical skeptical manner. The very best episodes put both of the agents faith to the test, and that testing is what makes I Want to Believe superior to the previous movie, Fight the Future.
An FBI field agent in West Virginia goes missing, and the only clue to her whereabouts comes from the visions of a former Catholic priest, Father Joe. Played by the always-great Billy Connely, Father Joe was ex-communicated from the church after it was revealed that he had molested thirty-seven altar boys over the course of his career.
Because of this paranormal aspect of the case, the task force leader decides to find Mulder and get his expertise. The only problem is that the FBI has had a warrant out of his arrest for a number of years, and he has gone into hiding. They find him through Scully, and as the case moves on Mulder quickly falls back into his old obsessions, threatening to pull Scully—who now works as a doctor in a Catholic-based hospital—back into their old monster-hunting days.
The faiths and beliefs of all the characters come into question during the movie. Scullys religion comes into conflict with her life as a doctor when she wants to use an experimental stem cell therapy to save a dying boy. Her faith in God is shaken when she considers the possibility that he could very well be speaking through a pedophile. And her faith and love in Mulder is tested when he starts falling back into their old life.
As for Mulder, his faith in Scully is tested when she fights against re-entering their old life. His faith in his beliefs is tested by the unpredictable, vague nature of Father Joes visions, and the nagging doubt that the former priest is somehow in league with the kidnapper, and is pretending to be psychic to get attention and possibly convince the Church to readmit him.
And Father Joes faith in the loving, forgiving nature of God is tested by the loathing of society and his own self-loathing over his actions. How can God forgive him when he cant forgive himself?
All of these questions are naturally brought to the surface by a compelling mystery. What happened to the FBI agent was just the beginning, and what it leads Mulder and Scully to is a grisly series of missing persons and what could possibly be a serial killer. There are some truly disturbing moments in this movie, and they do a great job of creating and sustaining the proper amount of tension. Like a good Hitchcock movie, the filmmakers masterfully use light, shadow, and the environment in general to create a dark, repressive atmosphere that perfectly fits the movie. In fact, at times this is a beautiful movie to watch. The vast, dark fields of ice and snow are gorgeous in their own stark way, and I couldnt help but admire it.
The movie was presented in Widescreen 2.40:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital 5.1 for the sound, and is a top-notch transfer.
Disc One
Deleted Scenes (cumulative running time: 5:00) – These are three deleted/extended scenes, and while they were interesting, I can see why they were taken from the final cut.
Chris Carter: Statements on Green Production (6:15) – This is six minutes of Chris Carter listing all the ways that the X-Files was a “green” movie. While Im glad that they were environmentally conscious, this was a boring featurette.
Body Parts: Special Makeup Effects (8:08) – An interesting, if slightly disturbing considering all the realistic dead bodies shown, look at the makeup effects.
Gag Reel (9:48) – Part of this was done to the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies.” Pretty funny, although kind of long for a gag reel.
Commentary by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz – Good, interesting commentary.
Dying 2 Live by Xzibit (4:03) – Xzibit has a minor role in this movie and he does a good job. Now, I havent heard any of his music, so I dont know how this compares, but I liked this song.
Still Galleries – Collectibles; Storyboards; Concept Art; Unit Photography.
Trailers – Domestic (1:27); International (1:39).
Public Service Announcement: Bubbles (00:34) – For some reason, somebody decided to add this anti-smoking commercial as a feature. Odd.
Disc Two
Trust No One: Can the X-Files Remain a Secret? (1:25:53) – This is divided into three parts: You Can Go Home Again; Misinformation; and Dont Give UP, and you can either play all, or watch the parts individually. The featurette basically chronicles all the secrecy behind this movie and the various attempts made by the filmmakers to keep movie information from leaking out over the internet. There is also some behind-the-scenes information here with interviews with David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Billy Connelly, and others.
The TV show lost me around season five or six, when it really got embroiled in the government conspiracy about the alien cover up, so I was very happy that this movie went in a different direction and told a self-contained story that allowed Mulder and Scully to grow as characters. I would love to see more X-Files movies in the future provided they stick with this format. The characters are strong, the writing is strong, and everyone who worked behind the scenes did great work. This is simply a good movie that is accessible to fans and those new to the franchise. Highly recommended.
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20th Century Fox presents The X-Files: I Want to Believe 2-Disk Extended Edition. Directed by Christ Carter. Starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Billy Connelly, Amanda Peet, and Xzibit. Written by Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter. Running time: 104 minutes. Rated PG-13. Released on DVD: December 2, 2008. Available at Amazon.
