My review

[Guest Laurent.]

Hey! I just got back from Montreal where I saw IWTB in a half full movie theater. I'll try to review the movie as best as I can while avoiding major spoilers, but if you want to be absolutely sure to stay completely spoiler free... I guess you shouldn't read the following.

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First of all, I went to see the movie hoping for two things: a better movie than Fight the Future and a X-File that would have made my top 10 episode list if had been in the tv series. Let's just say it's impossible to evaluate both points. The movie is very different from FTF, much more character based and meaningful while less entertaining. The plot is also hard to rate, but I'll explain this later on. I'll go over the movie point by point as I'm really not that good at writing reviews so I won't try to fool you and look professional.

Plot: The movie being character and theme based and obviously centered around the different beliefs represented by Mulder and Scully; the plot had to have some sort of ambivalence. Viewers had to be able to view it from any point of views or beliefs; be it science, paranormal or religion. That's quite a writing challenge, and the plot does manage to pull it out nicely. Unfortunately, it must get rid of some of the originality that the tv series had as they couldn't go into more extreme territory of either worlds. Furthermore, I think they aimed for a very "small-scale and personal" film, closer to the series than what FTF offered... maybe they did the best with the objectives that they had.

Directing/photography/(...): Chris Carter does an excellent job! No worries there. Even though he was trying to go for a "season three" feel, I thought it was a lot more reminiscent of season 8. It's an obviously cold atmosphere, yet very dark and so beautiful. On his first feature film ever, Carter manages to give the movie some sense of grandeur it an otherwise very low-key affair.

Acting: Perfect of course. I had my doubts about the "guest stars": Peet, Xzibit and Connely, but they all turn out to be quite good in their respective roles. All other major characters are perfectly portrayed and there are a lot of "surprise" actors blasting away from 1013's past.

Writing: Almost perfect. There isn't any out of characters moments, which I feared a bit. I thought the only problem was with the pacing of the movie, but thinking back I feel like they got it right. It's an intelligent and slow thriller.

Music: I was a bit disappointed. Mostly because I was expecting a lot of variety and different creepy sounds, but it was a lot more subtle than I imagined. Yet there were two or three moments where I though the score added a lot to the scenes. Mark Snow still did a better job than anyone could have done. Anyway, you never want the music to steal the attention from the movie, and that did not happen. Just a creepy subtle soundtrack, like the film itself.

Atmosphere: Very X-Filish as far as the "i want to believe" themes are applied. But some of the more classic XF themes are absent. No conspiracies, no issues of trust. I was a bit disappointed about this, but I almost think that they did it on purpose. It would have been very easy to turn the plot into a secret government or military conspiracy, yet they didn't. Maybe they felt the first movie dealt with these themes enough and wanted to center this one on something else. Or maybe it was a calculated move as the fashion of the time may not be around governmental distrust.

Overall: Decent offering. It's very intelligent, slow and beautiful. But there is something missing. I don't know if it is the classic X-Files atmosphere, the pacing or the originality of the plot... but it never got me on the edge of my seat. Anyway, it's good enough to warrant another installment!!

edit: A lot of reviews are pointing out that Scully does her research on Google. Well as far as I'm concerned it's pretty accurate; she probably has read about the subject, otherwise she would not have advise its use. But as she probably isn't an expert in the field, she needs to know what the best course of treatment his, as there are surely a few different way of using "stem cell therapy". Now one does not find comparative studies of treatment courses in the book (usually), but in the scientific literature. Where can you check the recent studies? In specialized journal. And what's the modern way of quickly searching through scientific journals' archive: the internet. Google Scholar has an impressive list of scientific journal available (as far as my own field is concerned).. and this list of references is accessible with any google search (if the search queries are specific enough). She probably didn't read a "Stem cell therapy for dummies" guide... but she double-checked recent studies in order to give the best possible treatment. No problem there.

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P.S. I may or may not add more tomorrow, I'm bit tired from the road and the beers now.

[Blackoil]

Hi Laran! I'm glad that you liked the movie. ;) Did you like the secret scene after the final credits? ;) I have to say people in my theatre were completly shocked (in a good way), it was such a nice surprise and we applauded and

waved to Mulder and Scully.

;)

[Guest Laurent.]

Hahaha. I actually thought it felt a bit out of place... it would have been funnier if the movie had been a big popcorn movie, which it wasn't! But it wasn't that long and the end credits were so well done that I didn't mind for the scene. Made me smile anyway.

[Guest SeanDubh]

As much as I liked the stand alones, it did seem rather ridiculous to me to not involve the conspiracy element in the plot at all. We're four years from colonization and we're concerning ourself with this? But if you can put that out of you mind it really is an excellent film. I found Amanda Peet to be annoying, but regardless, the film worked.

As for the secret scene, I don't know. I actually stopped people from leaving the theatre, telling them there was somthing after the credits. I was really expecting something mythology related, even if they never followed up on it. Needless to say, I don't know, I was embarrassed. It's nice that Mulder and Scully had a happy ending, but really, that was kind of ridiculous. It was a great movie though.

[ethsnafu]

Lovely review Laran and very respectful of those who have yet to view it. I must admit I had hope to wake up and find your review and you haven't disappointed. Would it be ok to ask for some comment regarding Sarah-Jane as I have to confess this is one of the most exciting aspects of the film for me being such an admirer of her and her work.

Reading reviews like these makes a week seem such a long time :)

Best wishes,

Eth

[Guest Laurent.]

A comment about Sarah-Jane Redmond?

Let's just say that it is pretty hard to make one without disappointing you. Anyone could have had that role, but Sarah-Jane did had some depth to it, strangely (I guess it's because of her intense and devious look). At first I didn't even recognize her and thought "what's wrong with her?". But no potential or literal depth was allowed to develop, and in the end it may be just another one of those cameo from old time 1013 guest stars, and one of the smaller ones sadly.

[Guest Laurent.]

something I want to add:

EVERY old x-files character

(all three of them)

were perfectly written and portrayed.

Mulder bears the weight of his past, but remains funny and passionate in a first seasons kind of way and not in the annoying "jealous mulder way" of season 8. He puts his work first, but Scully comes at a close second (though some may disagree about the order), but he has always been like that. I felt the way they dealt with the "finale situation" of the series was perfect: enough mentioned for old fans, and not mysterious for new viewers.

Scully is supported by the strength of the movie's best performance. She has actually the same feeling as by the end of the series; she wants to leave the darkness and have a career in medicine where she can save lives without having to "chase monster in the dark". Whenever past x-files elements

(like william)

are mentionned, Gillian (as she's the one carrying some unexplained personal issues of the series, unlike Mulder's sister) puts enough emotion in it to make it sound real for the fans, yet again I don't think it's strange for new viewers.

Skinner had such a small role, but as soon as he comes in you know he has some kind of strong link to the characters. I loved the way he calmly reassured Scully in the car; you could see through Mitch's performance that he did not really believe what he was saying... which is perfectly justifiable when you know that they had to deal with Mulder's disappearance before. I also loved his encounter with Mulder; both so relieved to see each other but it wasn't exuberant, just carrying the emotion of a long unseen relationship.

P.S. I just read the whole "IWTB Homophobic?" thread on XFU forums... what the hell? I don't like taboos. It was a love story for every character involved... except Xzibit.

P.P.S. I'm taking back the comment about Mark Snow's score not being interesting enough. I just remembered a few passage that were really uplifted by the music. I'll probably buy the score and I'm eager to give it a nice quite listen.

[Libby]

P.S. I just read the whole "IWTB Homophobic?" thread on XFU forums... what the hell? I don't like taboos. It was a love story for every character involved... except Xzibit.

I've skimmed through the XFU thread, and also read the relevant thread on imdb. I haven't seen the movie, and won't until the DVD is available, but I have heard that the movie is dedicated the late Randy Stone (Michael Beebe in 'Beware of the Dog') who was the original casting director for XF and MM. Responders on XFU and imdb have pointed out that Randy Stone was gay, and that Gillian Anderson is supportive of gay rights. Some people who are either gay or were with people who are gay during/after watching the movie have reported that there was no negative reaction from gays.

I really doubt that CC/FS could have written something homophobic and then dedicated the movie to a gay man who they undoubtedly respected, or that GA would have starred in and supported so enthusiastically a movie with a homophobic theme.

After all that I have read, in my more-than-a-decade with internet access, I really shouldn't be surprised at some of the bilge that's going on now, but I still am. I guess it's still the case that the bilge isn't about any realistic response to 'whatever', it's about some poster's self-esteem (for want of a better word). The trouble is that the advice has always been to ignore the trolls, but ignoring them doesn't make the problem go away because the trollish stuff is still there for the world to read, and sadly some will believe the lie.

[Guest betweenthelines]

it did seem rather ridiculous to me to not involve the conspiracy element in the plot at all. We're four years from colonization and we're concerning ourself with this? But if you can put that out of you mind it really is an excellent film.

I didn't mind it. Between the main mystery and the subplot with Scully, mentioning the mythology would have been excessive. Not to mention that throughout the show they concerned themselves with things besides the conspiracy.

Re: homophobia. I didn't think the film was homophobic. I mean, David and Gillian are both intelligent and have liberal views. If they were offended I think that element of the plot would have been taken out or rewritten. Plus the few episodes dealing with gay characters did so tastefully and respectfully.

Okay . . . the President Bush joke. Did everyone find that amusing or forced?

[Guest Laurent.]

forced.