If you liked the television show you will like the movie.
My only complaint is that it really felt more like a full length, made-for-TV special than a feature film.
No real special effects or action sequences that made you go, “Wow!”.
It was basically just a really good episode of the show that was longer than the usual format.
Oh, and for those who don’t remember the original show, or were not fans, you can still go and see a decent film without feeling left out. No real back story to worry about and the few references to what happened in the past are not crucial to this film.
Why didn’t they go whole hog for an alien plot? [Not necessarily one of their “mythology” plots] Make it as visionary/horrific/sublime as they could make it, something which affects the whole of mankind, Cthulu’s father’s cousin’s college roommate comes to Earth, but also some kindly aliens which are tracking it or something, the movie ends with some huge 2001-ish revelation and the world is never the same. Just another Monster of the Week (which is what I gathered it is) isn’t really worthy to be the last we’ll see of these two people.
I think a MotW is a perfectly worthy plot for the last time we’ll see these two people. While Mulder was always devoted to uncovering the conspiracy and finding the truth, I thought the two of them were at their best when they were investigating the strange, the bizarre, the impossible, and the occult. When their beliefs were both challenged and vindicated.
I loved the movie. I just hoped it wouldn’t suck, and it didn’t. In fact, I think it was pretty great.
Aware of the reviews, I went in with low expectations. I quite liked the film. Definitely a different beast than the first one. Where that on was all globe trotting chasing down the alien conspiracy, this one was more of a intimate paranormal investigative drama with strong character development. Aside from a few slow moments, and a little bit of excessive naysaying by Scully, this was a low key, but fine film.
Although it will be tough to do well against The Dark Knight (though Mamma Mia managed to do just fine), this film was only 30M to make compared to the original’s 85M so hopefully it will do well enough after worldwide and DVD to justify a third final film wrapping up the 2012 alien invasion arc.
I did find certain aspects of the film to be uncomfortably reminiscent of a less enlightened era that produced some homophobic thrillers. This didn’t ruin the film for me, and it seemed played off more as a plot convenience than as a moral issue (unlike the issue of pedophilia which was addressed as a moral issue), but it still seemed a little out of place and … outdated?
To be fair, they are gambling that this does somewhat well so they can make at least one more. Ideally, they may deal with the alien invasion in 2012(when it is “scheduled” to happen).
In order to even consider making that film, this one has to do reasonably well.
I always preferred the Monster of the Week episodes. I didn’t liek most of the alien conspiracy stuff. So I think I’ll give the movie a tumble. Was there any sex?
I cant wait to see this movie. Its not out her until the 1st August but Ive bought my ticket for the first showing at 12:01am! Im working at 7am but I dont care if I get home at 3am - Ive waited too long to see this!
I kind of want to see this, even though I never watched the tv show. Mainly because of Callum Rennie - is he in this alot? Or does he have a small part…
I saw the movie Saturday afternoon, and I thought it was good. No, they didn’t set a particularly high bar, but I thought the film was satisfying and was a nice way of reconnecting with characters we last saw leaving behind what we knew them for.
I will confess to being a little confused by complaints that it’s “just a long episode of the show.” I mean, what else is it supposed to be? Wrath of Khan? Those kinds of movies don’t come along very often. The biggest two complaints about this movie for me were Duchovny’s “beard” (worst since Debbie Rowe) and the fact that the “paranormal” aspect of the case they called Mulder in to consult on just wasn’t very compelling, given how quickly they try to give up on the thing after they bring him in.
Saw it Saturday afternoon as well, I was pretty disappointed. It was neat seeing what had become of Scully and Mulder, but the story itself was…BLAH. I can name 15 episodes that were better than this movie.
I’m a huge X-Files fan and I thought it sucked. I’m also an anti-shipper and everything that I hated about that aspect came to fruition. I want them to make a second one to apologize for this last one. It was pretty ok up until Mulder ended in the ditch, and then from there it went completely downhill.
I had to research that word. Anti-shipper means “against relationships”, in other words they don’t want to see Scully and Mulder get together and fall in love. I think it usually ruins a show, but the late X-Files seasons where Scully was pregnant were worse than this movie, IMO.
Yes, when Mulder wound up in the ditch the rest of the movie was pretty formula from that point onward.
I disagree. Everything that M & S went through together it would be unrealistic for them to not be together. Im a shipper 100% and thought that as well as fantastic story lines about monsters and conspiracy I really grew to love watching two insecure (at heart) people form a bond and fall in love. I loved the film and have to say it is my favourite film now. I cant believe how many people are slating it. Cant wait to see if there are any good extras on the dvd release - deleted scenes and bloopers would be great to see!
It LOOKED like an extra-long episode of the show. I’m not one to notice production values or soundtracks but the cheapness of the production stood out to me. I don’t know the technical aspects of it but it really looked like someone just took a middling-budget TV show episode and projected it onto a large screen.
For that matter, another “extra-long episode” criticism was that it wasn’t very newbie friendly. Maybe you don’t think that matters but we’re talking about a movie based off a show from a decade ago. Throwing the audience into it without giving any non-fans a reason to give a damp shit about the characters is no way to get good press.
It had some interesting parts but didn’t really hang together. I liked the two of them being pulled in different directions, but the thing is, what held the series together was the two of them trying to solve the mysteries and disagreeing about what was happening. When Scully actually doesn’t want to do it in the first place, it falls flat. (Played for comedy in Bad Blood, the idea was fine, but this was a movie and not an episode.) The plot wasn’t really weird enough for me, personally- Billy Connolly was sort of the whole supernatural element and his character didn’t contribute much in the way of the story, so it felt to me like a cop standard thriller with the X-Files characters. Possibly making that worse is the fact that all the fun supporting characters were killed off around the end of the series. The plot about the sick kid was also really cliche.
For all that, I didn’t hate it, but I was let down. I’d like to see a third one but I don’t think it will happen based on the response to this one.
To me, the movie should have been bigger and better than the TV series. It should resolve some alien issues, and maybe have some big chase or fight scenes. I want to see an alien mothership land in Montana and thousands of greys come out and line up. I want to see saucers over the Pyramids, stuff like that.
