The second X Files film

The new film, X-Files: I Want To Believe, arrived with little fanfare, and I only just noticed it at the local cinema (the Ritz). I was happier to have a look in than go for the latest in the Batman franchise, which no doubt is more cartoonish than X-Files.

Given the first X-Files film, I was surprised by what I saw this time around - as will be a lot of people. But it makes sense in context.

The tv series had always been dichotomous in several ways. One aspect was the storyline. I was drawn into on the recommendation of friends who were avid fansWhen I first watched it, the episodes were fairly self-contained, focused on paranormal stories that could have been drawn from the outlandish end of the Weekly World News spectrum. Except that the writing added a plausibility to the tabloid stories.

There's only so much of that stuff you can run, and a story arc that at first seemed peripheral built up to take over from the 'spooky' episodes. That arc revolved around alien conspiracies, but subject matter aside it was more engaging than the single-episode tales.
Even so, that arc got rather convoluted. If you want to avoid wading through it all, the episode 'The Truth' summarises it well and succinctly.

Thus, whereas the first X-Files movie built on the alien conspiracy arc, this second one was a more hermetic story at the 'spooky' end. The first was loaded with science fiction and special effects; this second was more down-to-earth, gritty realism.

Another set of dichotomies lay in the plot mechanics. At one end, plots could be fairly straightforwardly working towards resolution of a mystery. At the other end was the relationship-driven, humanistic (not in the sense of humanism per se) writing. This latter film contained elements of both, but weighed far more heavily on characters and relationships than the first. There was a lot of talkiness around belief (hence the film's subtitle) - which borders on the religious at times. 'Never give up' was watchword, but the writing's focus on relatively blind belief bordered on the clunky at times. Without a specific ethical framework to work off, the concept was adrift and shallow more times than it needed to be. This was, ultimately, an abiding weakness of the tv series.

In mitigation, the dirty, unkempt groundedness of this film was a pleasant contrast to the usual hollywood fare. The actors are fifteen years older than when they started out, which the director took full advantage of: the characters are shown as aged, and so more haggard, worn - and human.

That in itself is something fans can appreciate. Characters that move on, not necessarily bigger and better. Wiser? Perhaps a little, but in keeping with the original characterisations they're still grappling with similar issues, in a different context. As happens in life.