The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008)

Director:

Chris Carter

Writers (WGA):

Frank Spotnitz (written by) and
Chris Carter (written by) ...

Release Date:

25 July 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Believe Again

Plot:

Mulder and Scully are called back to duty by the FBI when a former priest claims to be receiving psychic visions pertaining to a kidnapped agent.

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Priest | Psychic | Psychic Vision | Catholic

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Amanda Peet	...	ASAC Dakota Whitney
Billy Connolly	...	Father Joseph Crissman
Xzibit	...	Agent Mosley Drummy (as Alvin 'Xzibit' Joiner)
Mitch Pileggi	...	Walter Skinner
Callum Keith Rennie	...	2nd Abductor - Janke Dacyshyn
Adam Godley	...	Father Ybarra
Alex Diakun	...	Gaunt Man
Nicki Aycox	...	2nd Victim - Cheryl Cunningham
Fagin Woodcock	...	1st Abductor - Franz Tomczeszyn
Marco Niccoli	...	Christian Fearon
Carrie Ruscheinsky	...	Margaret Fearon
Spencer Maybee	...	Blair Fearon
Veronika Hadrava	...	Female Assistant

Also Known As:

The X Files 2 (USA) (working title)
The X Files: Done One (USA) (working title)
The X-Files (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
The X-Files Movie (USA) (promotional title)
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (USA) (alternative spelling)
Untitled X Files Sequel (USA) (working title)
X-Files: Je veux y croire (Canada: French title)
Akte X - Jenseits der Wahrheit (Germany) [de]
Arkiv X - I want to believe (Sweden) [sv]
Arquivo X - Eu Quero Acreditar (Brazil) [pt]
Dosjei X - Zelim vjerovati (Croatia) [hr]
Ficheiros Secretos: Quero Acreditar (Portugal) [pt]
Los expedientes secretos X - Quiero creer (Argentina) [es]
Los expedientes secretos X 2 (Venezuela) [es]
Salatoimikud - Ma tahan uskuda (Estonia) [et]
The X Files - Inanmak Istiyorum (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
The X-Files - Thelo na pistepso (Greece) [el]
X-Files - Creer es la clave (Spain) [es]
X-Files - Voglio crederci (Italy) [it]
X-Files: Régénération (France) [fr]
X-Files: Tron på prövning (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
X-Files: Usko koetuksella (Finland) [fi]
Z archiwum X - Chce wierzyc (Poland) [pl]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing content and thematic material.

Runtime:

104 min | USA:108 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English | Russian | Czech

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (uncredited)

Certification:

UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Ireland:15A | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) (Canadian Home Video rating) | Hong Kong:IIB | South Korea:15 | Germany:16 | USA:PG-13 (Approved No. 44443) | Netherlands:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Sweden:15 | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade) | Italy:T | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | New Zealand:M | Peru:14 | Austria:14 | Denmark:15 | France:U (with warning) | Brazil:12

Filming Locations:

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

When Mulder and Scully first walk back into the FBI offices right before they walk into the bullpen, a female agent walks by that catches Mulder's attention and he watches her walk away. The woman is Vanessa Morley, who throughout the series played the young Samantha Mulder, and is the same Samantha in the photo Mulder has taped to the back of his home office door.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Scully and Mulder accompany Father Joe to the scene of the agent's abduction for the first time the sun is rising and the screen reads "Somerset, West Virginia, 5:02 AM". During mid-winter in that part of the country it would still be completely dark for over two hours more.

Quotes:

Dana Scully: It's been fun.
Fox Mulder: Scully? Nobody's gonna make you sit next to him.
Dana Scully: Thanks, but I've already been taken for a ride. Besides, he doesn't want me there.
Fox Mulder: I want you here.
Dana Scully: This isn't my life anymore, Mulder. I'm done chasing monsters in the dark.

Movie Connections:

Features "The Jeffersons" (1975)

Soundtrack:

Memories Child

I can't point out anything bad, but nothing really stands out.

I think my title says it all. Really, I was entirely entertained the entire way through. I'm not going to give away the story because this film was marketed wonderfully. Going in, thanks to great marketing, you won't (shouldn't) know anything about the plot and this helps create a real sense of mystery. By now you know it has to do something with psychics but you really have no idea.

The writing, just like the show, is pitch perfect. The character development between Mulder and Scully is never off and they even introduce new characters. These characters aren't great (I suppose at times Xibit is kind of annoying) but they work pretty well to move the story along. This film also does something many movies have a hard time doing and thats creating sub plots that don't fall flat. There's a great sub plot involving a boy with a terrible disease, and its emotional and you never don't care about his fate even though it isn't the central focus of the story.

The acting is great. Duchovney and Anderson both flourish as the main characters while newcomers Amanda Peet and Xibit (is he trying to pull a Rock on us and change it to his birth name?) do their job admirably but never steal a scene from the real stars of the film.

I know I have a ton of great things to say about this movie and, yes, I loved it. I'd rank it among the greatest summer films this year (for those wondering Dark Knight and Iron Man both trump this). This is on par with how I felt about The Incredible Hulk, which I also loved. I just can't say that it's great and honestly I'm not sure what it is. Probably that it felt like a really epic episode.

This feels right at home in the series and it's a real relief to say that because it could've been good but not at home within the series.

I give this film a B.