Believing // VOID-STAR.NET

Well, all my nagging apparently paid off last night and I managed to drag Mat out to see The X-Files: I Want to Believe with me last night at Tightass Tuesdays at the Dendy.

I liked it. For a couple of reasons, but I guess if I’m being completely honest the main reason I liked it was because, hey, it’s the X-Files! That show was, like, my life from about ’94 to ’99. I had diaries and trading cards and novels and, damn. It was probably the first thing I was ever a fan of. (Not that I’ve ever been in the fandom; I only tend to fen stuff I have Issues with, but that’s another post.)

But the film?

Okay, I’ll get the stuff I didn’t like out of the way first.

1. I don’t think IWTB ‘works’ as a movie. As an extended episode of the show, yes. As a film, no. If you’re not already fan I think the film is completely inaccessible, and actually quite unapologetic about that fact. It’s something for the fans (q.v. Skinner’s cameo), and I’m okay with that.
2. Too much time was spent aboard the Crapplot Explaintrain. Maybe I’m just over-sensitive to this after recent forays into one particular SV re-write fanfic ( unreckoned) that had a tendency to dip into episode dialogue which, when settled in alongside the author’s writing, hung heavy and full of awkward exposition. IWTB had a lot of this kind of expository dialogue, coupled with a bunch of ill-written “deep” conversations. And, okay, there was a bunch of plot stuff that needed to be covered but, seriously guys; show, don’t tell, okay?

And the stuff I did?

1. The relationship between Mulder and Scully. Oh. My. God. It’s not the fact that they’re a couple. It’s the fact that, well, they’re a couple without that being a relevant plot point. It’s a type of relationship we almost never see outside of, like, comedy sitcoms and I applaud whoever’s idea this was for having the guts to pull it off. I mean, about the only other example I can think of is between I-can’t-spell-Alison-correctly and her husband… Joe (I think) from Medium. So Mulder and Scully sleep together but they’re still, yanno, Mulder and Scully. They still call each other Mulder and Scully (in bed!) and, damn, that’s just so perfect. This is the most romantic romance I’ve ever seen on the screen because it’s just so… there. And things aren’t perfect and they still fight and disagree with each other but that’s the whole point. I love it.
2. Doctor Scully!
3. Mulder. He’s a) obsessive, b) quite obviously broken and c) a total damsel-in-distress. So we get our driven!Mulder and action!Mulder but, at the end of the day, he still has to be saved by Scully (and Skinner in a “lolfanservice!” moment). Hell, Mulder is being saved every day by Scully. And, yeah okay, I can think of the anti-feminist spin on this but, damn, it’s still refreshing to see the trope reversal anyway.
4. No mytharc. Yeah, “Anasazi” was great but, really, I always liked the show better when it was about the MotW.
5. The plot. What can I say? Secret evil experiments are a TV-trope fetish of mine…
6. Adults having adult conversations about difficult issues to which there are no easy answers. Okay, a lot of the dialogue in these bits was awkward but still, kudos for the attempt. Because I am so sick of easy answers and obvious villains.

So, yeah. I can’t say I’d recommend this film to everyone, but I think if you were a fan of the show and go into the cinema thinking, “I’m off to watch The X-Files!” rather than, “I’m off to watch a movie!” then you should at least have some fun.

For old time’s sake.