I want to believe the second ‘X-Files’ movie is good

As a die-hard “X-Files” fan, I was disappointed in “The X-Files: I Want to Believe.”

I actually became angry after I saw it Monday night at the Chisholm Trail 8 theaters. I want to believe it was a good movie, but right now, I can’t. I expected more. It was more like one of the show’s worst episodes.

The TV show and the 1997 movie always were based on the alien/government conspiracy plot or something supernatural (monster of the week). If you consider a pedophile ex-priest having visions as supernatural, then I guess this movie included some supernatural stuff. But not enough for a me!

I remember TV episodes with a pizza delivery man who also was a vampire; a circus freak whose “little” brother attached to his midsection would jump out and kill people; The Great Mutato with Cher; and the Moth Men episode about men who possibly found the fountain of youth. Who could forget Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin as ghosts? Through the TV show, I got schooled on some urban legends — like the Jersey Devil. I think there even was an episode about the Loch Ness monster or similar creature.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad director Chris Carter made another “X-Files” movie. But it didn’t seem very X-Files-like. Sure Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) were in it, and there was a brief appearance by another TV show regular, but I wanted more. I wanted creatures and aliens. I wanted the duo to still be FBI agents.

The TV series ended in 2002. If I remember correctly, the bad guy, the “Smoking Man” was killed in the series finale. The bad guy was Fox Mulder’s nemesis. In the newest movie, Fox has no nemesis, which would’ve been nice.

In the TV show, Mulder is an FBI agent assigned to work the X-Files, which are paranormal, unsolved cases. His partner is physician Scully, who, for much of the series, served as the voice of reason and logic to Mulder’s belief in other-worldly things.

The movie still involves Scully and Mulder, but they’re no longer FBI agents. Mulder is running from the FBI and is holed up in a house in the country, while Scully is a hospital surgeon.

An FBI agent, played by Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner, approaches Scully, asking her to tell Mulder the FBI needs his assistance in finding a missing woman. If Mulder agrees, all will be forgiven. The duo works with the FBI on the case and finds some strange things going on. The movie just seemed more like a thriller to me than an X-File.

One thing that really bothered me was it seemed Scully’s personality had changed. In the TV series, she came across as a serious, tough agent who, much of the time, protected Mulder with her gun. Her character was one of the first strong female characters I can recall on TV. In the movie, her character seems more like Gillian Anderson, the actress. I really couldn’t detect any Scully in there. She cried, she yelled and she yelled some more. In the series, I’m sure she yelled, but she was way more controlled. This Scully seemed to be going through menopause, except she’s not of that age yet.

She even giggled. I’m sorry, Scully doesn’t giggle — or have long hair.

Most people who want to see the movie are die-hard X-File fans, so why didn’t they make the movie to appeal to them? Where are the Lone Gunmen? It seemed as though the movie was created to appeal to a mass audience that wasn’t familiar with the show. Seems like that was a big mistake because it came it at No. 4 in the box office, getting beat by “The Dark Knight” at No. 1.

Making an “X-Files” movie not appeal to “X-Files” fans is like making a Batman movie not appeal to its fans. Maybe Batman should be set in the Caribbean and the Joker could be a mermaid. (Sarcasm intended.)

Maybe this “X-Files” movie is so weird, it’s its own X-file. The strangest part of the movie (besides Mulder looking like Grizzly Adams) comes after the credits, so you might want to stick around for that little nugget of weirdness.

My eldest son, who has seen the movie twice, tells me he was bothered by the film after he saw it the first time but liked it better the second time. I guess it grows on you — like a man-eating fungus! Now there’s an X-file.

What did I like about the movie? There was some humor, especially an interesting scene involving George W. I also liked the lighting and editing, and Xzibit did a pretty good job of being an FBI agent.

Guess I better watch the movie again. It might grow on me.

Wendy Nugent is the Accent page, Play and assistant photo editor at The Newton Kansan.