X-Files: I want to Believe

I went to watch this at 10.45 last Saturday morning. I had no other choice as the movie is close to the end of its run at the cinemas.

First off, most reviews about it was negative. SK said it was bad. A review said that it was offensive to gays, as the villain in the movie was gay.

Thus far I have only seen one positive review in the papers. The other positive review came from Lloyd.

My opinion. It was like a typical episode of X-Files. Which is not to say it wasn't great. It was good and I felt satisfied when I left the cinema.

*spoilers ahead*
It has been five years since they left the FBI. Scully is a doctor at the local hospital and she is personally attached to this boy who has been struck with an incurable disease.

And guess what? Mulder lives together with Scully. They shared two passionate kisses and they sleep on the same bed.

But of course, they are not married. They still call each other by their last names.

The plot was about healthy young women being abducted and killed. Their body parts were found buried everywhere.

The person who led them to the body parts was a convicted paedophile priest called Father Joe. At one point, Scully said, "If God was trying to tell me something, through a paedophile priest no less ..... "

Anyway, no one believes that Father Joe (FJ) was really psychic. But he led them to another body and cried tears of blood, which had Mulder believing in him.

I think what I found interesting about the film was the familiarity of the themes from the TV series. Father Joe could be really psychic, but in the end was proven otherwise. There was a lot of ambiguity there.

To me, it was pretty clear that he was, just not he was not a very good one. He claimed to be given visions by God. This was his way of serving God and entering back into the arms of Jesus after his heinous crimes.

Which is highly possible. Probably he was redeeming himself by helping the FBI with his visions.

The other theme that was recurring was "Don't give up". For no reason, FJ told Scully that and it stuck in her mind. She did not give up and tried a new radical procedure on the dying boy, even though everyone has given up and wanted the boy sent to a hospice.

It was also relevant to Mulder, as he was not giving up on finding the latest missing girl alive. The FBI was pretty closed to solving the case and Scully wanted Mulder to let them finish the job.

But Mulder would have none of it as he believed that the latest missing girl was still alive. And he had to find her fast.

Scully accused him of being stubborn, followed by "that was the reason I fell for you". Mulder then said that was why it is impossible for them to be together. She still thinks that part of it is due to the fact that he can't stop looking, he can't stop believing even though he knows his sister is dead.

So that was why I find it satisfying. I am quite a fan of X-Files and to see all these development between the two characters, how much they have grown since but still very much the same.

Scully wanted a normal life, to come home everyday, to not chase monsters in the dark anymore. Mulder couldn't stop because that is who he is and that is his life.

But still, the darkness finds them.

About the villain. It's actually this organ transplant transportation guy who was killing people to harvest the body. His employer / husband was dying from cancer. He wanted to keep his boyfriend alive by transplanting his head to the victim's body. One body could probably last a few weeks and then a new body would be needed.

And the there was a relationship between the dying guy and Father Joe. Apparently, the employer was one of the alter boys that Father Joe "buggered", to use Scully's choice of words.

*end of spoiler*

Basically, I would think that the movie is good simply because it was good to know what has happened to my favourite FBI agents. The chemistry was still there and all the ingredients that made the series great were there. For me, the plot was secondary to Mulder and Scully's motivation and evolution since the last time we saw them.

Probably it wouldn't be as good to non-fans. Even the guy who sat behind me said "Quite good what. Who was the one who told us it was lousy?"