The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2)

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The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2)

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The X-Files: I Want to Believe...

David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Callum Keith Rennie

"The X-Files: I Want to Believe" takes the always-complicated relationship between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in unexpected directions. Mulder continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully,...( read more  read more... ) the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder's pursuits.

Id: 10910187

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The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2) Recent Reviews

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The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2) Recent Reviews
  • binky013
    December 1, 2009
    binky013
    For both this movie and the first feature-length X-Files film some ten years before, Fight the Future, the claim is made that you need know nothing about the original TV series in order to understand either movie. That's a question -- or rather a claim -- that I ca...( read more)nnot come to terms over. I have seen every episode of the TV series multiple times, so I am in no position, objectively speaking, to argue either for or against that claim. From the moment you see Scully or Mulder on the screen, the entire mythology wells up in your consciousness, so you are absolutely aware of their history, and you cannot help but make connections with the fabled TV show. I would be very curious to meet someone who'd never seen the TV series and find out if that person believes that the two movies stand alone.

    Having said all of this, and if you're still following me, I have to say that as a wholly contained story -- which is what I truly want to believe -- I actually prefer Fight the Future to I Want To Believe. Let me quickly add that my favorite episodes of the TV show have nothing to do with conspiracy theories, Mulder's sister, alien abduction, or creepy black-blood crawly body invasion thingies. I absolutely came to hate those episodes over the full course of the series. What I prefer are the nearly self-contained episodes that present some odd phenomenon, have Mulder and Scully jump on the case, and have the story resolved by the end of the 60-minute episode or the end of a two-episode story. Most of these self-contained episodes are really very well-wrought gems.

    So why, you may very well ask, do I prefer the first movie, the one that deals with all the stuff I like least about the X-Files? This is a question which I cannot actually answer, specifically, but I think it may have something to do with Billy Connolly's character and with Dana Scully's terminally ill little patient. I like the weird Dr. Frankenstein transplant aspect of I Want To Believe, but I have a very strong suspicion, from a writing standpoint, that the whole Billy Connolly character may have been invented near the end of the creative process in order to fill out a story that may have been a little too thin and too short to begin with.

    Ask yourself this: What does Scully's very very very secondary -- almost tertiary -- story about the boy who needs radical stem cell transplant surgery have to do with the overall story? I would submit that if that whole sub-plot disappeared, the movie would be none the weaker for the loss. Just shorter.

    That leaves us with the crazy Russian Frankenstein types. What if Mulder and Scully stumbled across a frozen pile of body parts all by themselves, without any help from pedophile priest psychics? Or let's say an average guy doing a little beer drinking and ice fishing runs across this gruesome stockpile, starts reeling in an arm here and a head there. What would you have then? Well, I think you would have a pretty nifty little 60-minute TV episode.

    So the reason why I like the first movie more is simply this: It reads like a full-length feature story with all of its parts very well integrated. I Want To Believe, on the other hand, reads like a great TV episode that someone wanted to flesh out, by accretion of parts, by hashing stuff together into a full-length feature. You cut out the excess window dressing, and you'd have yet another very good self-contained TV show episode.
  • Camus123
    September 28, 2009
    Camus123
    I'm not sure where the complaints lie.
    This movie was a better than average thriller that stood on its own apart from any knowledge of the characters going in.
    I think this is what made diehard fans upset...we didn't need to be privy to much beforehand to make this movie work. ...( read more)
    It is a hardcore thriller that speaks to the true evil in men's hearts as well as a bit of the supernatural. The performances were solid as was the storyline.
    The movie does not rely on gimmicks or special effects. There aren't big explosions or frenetic gunplay. There is just a story and a lot of tension.
    I think it played quite well.
    Were some of the ways they resolved certain issues unbelievable? Yeah, but...I want to believe (had to do it...sorry for that).
    The movie was taut, dark and sometimes difficult to watch and I challenge the fanboys (which I am one of) to give me a reason that this did not work for you outside you expecting your old pals Mulder and Scully to play to you. They don't.
    This brings me back to the early days when Carter really put his heart and soul into the writing of X-Files and Millennium.
    Far superior to the first X-files movie which only sought to tie up loose ends. This film is a 3.75 solid moving on 4 stars.
  • rezpatriot
    August 19, 2009
    rezpatriot
    If you have seen at least one season and know the background to the recent seasons then you will enjoy this film. Otherwise this is a comparitivlely normal movie but worth seeing the same. Thriller/Horror/Drama
  • henriksedin
    July 31, 2009
    henriksedin
    Extremely disappointed this movie was low budget, and boring where the hell was the paranormal activity? Fucking shit
  • mjgildea
    June 30, 2009
    mjgildea
    I kind of zoned out on the last few seasons of The X-Files then checked out altogether once David Duchovny left the show, so I had no idea what happened in that final season. So I kind of watched The X-Files: I Want to Believe out of nostalgic self-imposed obligation more than an...( read more)ything. And surprisingly it wasn't too bad. There were very few elements to qualify this story as an X-File and it seemed to be here more as a post script after what I was told was a horrible finale. Duchovny and Gillian Anderson got back into their respective roles without missing a beat. Amanda Peet was surprisingly not annoying and what the hell was Xzibit doing here? Honestly. I Want to Believe had some genuinely creepy and almost... scary parts, but the story seemed to wander around lost in a limbo between any given generic serial killer movie and a forgettable standalone episode of the show. There are definitely worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon and while the movie didn't seem to rely on its audience seeing every episode of the show, I can't help but feel there were a few more details we should've been tipped off to. Worth the watch if you were a fan of the show but non-fans need not bother...
  • totalefreiheit
    January 2, 2010
    totalefreiheit
    Me gusto la serie... pero esta pelicula no me gusto. No es mas que un capitulo de policias y ladrones sin nada de misterios.
  • jcsr
    December 28, 2009
    jcsr
    I consider myself a fan of the TV series although I am not a huge follower. The first movie was really engaging and interesting with a complex plot that was revealed bit by bit. In this sequel they follow the same formula, but the chosen plot is not as compelling or X-file worthy...( read more). I think most of the fans, including myself, were expecting something regarding alien life, but we're delivered a "missing persons" case and a priest with psychic visions, which is interesting, but something better left for an episode rather than a motion picture. Anyways, it is good to reunite with these interesting characters, even when the thriller is not so much of a thrill.
  • bethkq
    December 28, 2009
    bethkq
    A really solid X Files movies. It really felt like an especially long, really good episode. And I thoroughly enjoyed that it wasn't tied into the whole ridiculously complicated overall conspiracy theory of the show. It was just a stand alone, solid story.
  • emVball
    December 27, 2009
    emVball
    i wanted to believe this wouldn't suck, but it did
  • bgeggo
    December 26, 2009
    bgeggo
    As an X-Files fan for many years, it was good to go back and check in with the team. The film turns out to be a very good episode, but not a compelling film. I was left happy, but still knowing that this chapter of the story was unneeded.
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