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Celebrating 1,000 NCIS-franchise episodes

XF2: I Want to Believe this wasn't the last

queequeg

By queequeg
in The X-Files [V]

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queequeg

queequeg

So after much pondering and soul searching, I'm not really sure I have much to say about IWTB.  It wasn't awful, but I didn't really love it either.  If I'm grabbing an X-Files movie to watch, I'm fairly certain I'll reach for Fight the Future 99.9% of the time.  I kinda get why they did a MOTW, but I think I would have preferred something involving the mytharc, as messy as that was at the end.  Maybe a little wrap-up with the whole William thing?  Something to help tie up loose ends.  And I don't dislike MOTWs, some of my favorite eps are MOTWs, but it's just a very "meh" MOTW.   I think the thing that concerns me the most, is if they never get XF3, is this really how X-Files deserves to go out? 

 

On to a few points that I remember (because it's been a couple weeks):

 

  • This movie may be the first instance that Scully just really annoyed me.  And I'm usually a HUGE Scully homer.  She gets Mulder involved, with the promise of the FBI dropping the previous BS charges against him, so yay!   But then spends the rest of the movie running around all pissy and whiny about the darkness, and what being involved like this does to Mulder... blah blah blah.  Scully, we know you have got to know him better that.  What did you think would happen?  Geez.  I was thrilled when Mulder finally said, "Scully, this is who I am. It's who I've always been. This is who I was before I met you. It's what I do, it's everything I know."  Because, pretty much.
  • Who are these two pointless agents they bring in?   Where's Doggett?  Reyes?  I would have rather seen a return of them than these two.  Meh.  They left such an impact on me I can't remember their names 2 weeks later. 
  • Skinner!!!  Glad to see somebody from the good 'ole days, although way to drag him in at the very end.
  • Why is "I'm a medical doctor!" Scully Googling stem cell therapy?  Aren't there like medical journal databases?  Also, don't they have neurosurgeons for this kind of thing?  Or any kind of surgeon?  Why is Scully performing brain surgery on this kid?  Is Scully a surgeon?  It's just a very strange situation. 
  • Also, Skinner and his, "Maybe I could Google it."  heh.  How much money did Google throw at this movie?  ;)
  • Maybe Google can pay for XF3?!?!  (are you reading this Google?  I know you are!)

 

Overall, I think had I seen this movie in '08 after a long X-Files hiatus I would have enjoyed it more.  Coming off of all 9 seasons and directly into this movie, outside of Mulder and Scully and seeing them together, the story just didn't hold my interest all that well.  But I think in '08 I would have been cheesed just to see them together again in something new.

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Taryn74

Taryn74

I think the thing that concerns me the most, is if they never get XF3, is this really how X-Files deserves to go out?

 

 

I think I may have just shed an actual tear.  I couldn't agree more.

 

•Who are these two pointless agents they bring in?   Where's Doggett?  Reyes?  I would have rather seen a return of them than these two.  Meh.  They left such an impact on me I can't remember their names 2 weeks later.

 

 

So much WORD.

 

•Why is "I'm a medical doctor!" Scully Googling stem cell therapy?  Aren't there like medical journal databases?  Also, don't they have neurosurgeons for this kind of thing?  Or any kind of surgeon?  Why is Scully performing brain surgery on this kid?  Is Scully a surgeon?  It's just a very strange situation.

 

 

Again, WORD.

 

But I think in '08 I would have been cheesed just to see them together again in something new.

 

 

It certainly helped a great deal.  I can remember watching the promo about a thousand times.  And I wanted it to be so great, and while I wasn't horribly disappointed, it certainly wasn't great, and that made me so sad.

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Bastet

Bastet

It was indeed just nice to see them again, and I was relieved CC didn't fuck up their relationship, so I came out of the midnight showing happy, but it's not much of a movie and I haven't watched the Blu-Ray since I bought it. 

 

The WGA strike is the only reason it was greenlighted, but that also meant no rewrites -- and this movie really needed rewrites.  The release date and anemic promotion put the final nail in the coffin, but I don't think it would have been a hit regardless because they basically filmed a first draft.  The script is sloppy, and if GA and DD weren't so damn good at being Scully and Mulder regardless of what's on the page, this film could have been an outright embarassment for the franchise.

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Bastet

Bastet

Yeah, the strike was expected to be protracted, so scripts already in the can that wouldn't have otherwise been bought were picked up, because the studios were terrified they wouldn't have any filmed movies come summer.  So IWTB got the green light and filming began right after the winter holidays.  But since it was being filmed during the strike, no one could tinker with the script (well, a non-WGA member could if they wanted to be a scum-sucking scab), and the lack of revisions really shows.

 

As does the low budget.  Kudos to GA and DD basically doing this as a favor (and she dropped out of another film to do so); they took peanuts up front in exchange for a percentage of the profits in order to stretch the budget as far as possible, and they're both savvy enough to know the back end wasn't going to amount to much.

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queequeg

queequeg

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Awwwww.  Well props to them for doing this movie, anyhow!  I love them a little more now.  They both seem really interested in doing an XF3 if it ever happens.  I'm glad that they both seem over the burnout that the tv series caused.

 

Are you saying this movie only got made b/c of the strike?  That otherwise it wouldn't have gotten picked up? 

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Bastet

Bastet

(edited)

That's the reason it was picked up at that time, yes.  Whether that script, or a completely different XF2, would have been given the go-ahead at some point had the strike not occured (or not been predicted to linger on) is impossible to know.  I tend to doubt IWTB would have ever been picked up, but perhaps a different film.

Edited by Bastet
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AntiBeeSpray

AntiBeeSpray

(edited)

I liked the movie for what it was, but to be honest... the novel on the other hand, heck to the no. Bad pretty much would describe it O_o. It made the movie look good, but imho, I think that was in part due to the work and the effort David and Gillian put into it. I think (at least to a point) that CC is somewhat of a hack writer. Aside from XF, TLG and Millenium (which was his other hit), what has he done over the last few years or so (other than The After, that'll be coming out on Amazon)?

 

I'm not a CC hater or anything on that level, but from what I've seen, not much and the After doesn't seem all that promising. Heck, I don't envy the work... but I think that editing would help in regards to scripts. Both for XF2 and otherwise.

 

This movie may be the first instance that Scully just really annoyed me.  And I'm usually a HUGE Scully homer.  She gets Mulder involved, with the promise of the FBI dropping the previous BS charges against him, so yay!   But then spends the rest of the movie running around all pissy and whiny about the darkness, and what being involved like this does to Mulder... blah blah blah.  Scully, we know you have got to know him better that.  What did you think would happen?  Geez.  I was thrilled when Mulder finally said, "Scully, this is who I am. It's who I've always been. This is who I was before I met you. It's what I do, it's everything I know."  Because, pretty much.

 

Yea she made me want to throw things sometimes... but she did that in show (s8) as well. The whole Whiny Scully (pregnancy, aside) made me want to do the same. So I was used to it. But I will say the writing at times in IWTB was not good... it was just too out there. Made me wonder just how many drugs Chris took and how they affected him O_o.

 

 

Who are these two pointless agents they bring in?   Where's Doggett?  Reyes?  I would have rather seen a return of them than these two.  Meh.  They left such an impact on me I can't remember their names 2 weeks later.

 

I don't remember them either. XD Other than, one falling down an elevator shaft.

 

Skinner!!!  Glad to see somebody from the good 'ole days, although way to drag him in at the very end.

 

Word. It was nice to see him, cameo aside. And he was a far more efficient and effective FBI agent than the one that Scully had to deal with ;).

 

Why is "I'm a medical doctor!" Scully Googling stem cell therapy?  Aren't there like medical journal databases?  Also, don't they have neurosurgeons for this kind of thing?  Or any kind of surgeon?  Why is Scully performing brain surgery on this kid?  Is Scully a surgeon?  It's just a very strange situation.

 

Probably. But (playing Devil's advocate) maybe she didn't have the time to do as much in depth research that day? It's definitely odd and strange... but it is the X-Files :P.

 

Also, Skinner and his, "Maybe I could Google it."  heh.  How much money did Google throw at this movie?  ;)

 

Probably a pretty penny :P ;).

 

Maybe Google can pay for XF3?!?!  (are you reading this Google?  I know you are!)

 

Maybe, and maybe they can help pay for some good co-writers to help out! XD All kidding aside, he could use all the help he could get.

Edited by The Crazed Spruce
Fixing quote tags
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Bastet

Bastet

Other than, one falling down an elevator shaft.

 

No lie, the handful of people at the midnight showing I attended cheered when that happened.  I may have joined in; I have never liked Amanda Peet, and her character (Whitney?) was annoying.  I did like Scully's non-reaction to her, though.

 

Other than that, the biggest audience reaction was cheering the appearance of Skinner, but Scully got applause for her first appearance, too (none for poor Mulder). 

 

And then I - who had been spoiled - had to tell people to stick around for the post-credits weirdness. 

 

I like CC as an idea man (for the most part), but not as a writer.  Or director. 

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AntiBeeSpray

AntiBeeSpray

(edited)

No lie, the handful of people at the midnight showing I attended cheered when that happened.  I may have joined in; I have never liked Amanda Peet, and her character (Whitney?) was annoying.  I did like Scully's non-reaction to her, though.

 

Other than that, the biggest audience reaction was cheering the appearance of Skinner, but Scully got applause for her first appearance, too (none for poor Mulder). 

 

And then I - who had been spoiled - had to tell people to stick around for the post-credits weirdness. 

 

I like CC as an idea man (for the most part), but not as a writer.  Or director. 

Yea that was rather priceless. You don't go after Scully's man ;). All kidding aside, there wasn't a ton for her to do. Scully was pretty much a cool cucumber there... other than giving her the look (the one that would kill her (Whitney)).

 

Damn, poor guy :(. I cheered when I saw him come on screen, same with Scully. They're a team, people! 

 

Same here XD. And tbh, those two earned a little vacation ;).

 

Me too, when it isn't way out in left field. Improbable was rather strange, but it was still ok and Post Modern Prometheus was wonderful. I thought he did ok as a director (imo), other than having the kiss scene shot so oddly (hi, back of Mulder's head XD). It was a good scene, but just O_o for the first part of it.

Edited by AntiBeeSpray
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kilted

kilted

I just completed the fastest 16 Google searches of my life to find this site. SO glad it's just 'moved house' because one is the loneliest number.

 

Oh I didn't like or approve of XF2 at all. I've never vented properly over it either. I just pushed the bad memories way down deep inside, but sometimes, when I'm standing in a really long line at the Post Office, and it's too warm, it comes back in small chunks. I remember the script and dialogue etc loosely but more than that, I recall cringing in my seat at the cinema. And I'm a die-hard X-files fan, i.e. I dislike IWTB but I obviously own 2 copies. 

 

I'd hoped for a MOTW with an old-fashioned mutant monster. One with claws and some nasty, Hellish habit - like eating livers. Because gay Russians in love isn't scary. Was there a sex change issue or am I thinking of a Jerry Springer episode? I zoned out before the end because I was worried they'd all start doing the Time Warp. It was watery gravy to me.

 

I hated the negative press it received from voices saying it was homophobic but it did get itself into a muddy jam. The X-Files has a great history of pushing boundaries and of delivering something new, fresh and sophisticated so criticism that it was backward in handling homosexuality etc was really frustrating. Damn it was frustrating.

 

Keeping their relationship ambiguous for the first half-hour of the film was stupid. Hell keeping their relationship ambiguous for the first 8 seasons of a 9 season show was stupid. In the run-up to IWTB I remember seeing pictures or a clip of M&S exiting the helicopter at HQ and Mulder taking hold of her properly. I liked seeing him take a firm grip. But by the time the movie was released it had been changed to something less...charged. I forget what gesture he ended up making but it didn't look romantic. He could've been steering an old lady across a road. All so there could be this big, surprising reveal? Which fell flat because it was in the blasted dark with an unnecessary amount of duvet coverage. Who else needed to hold their chin at a funny angle and squint to make them out??

 

As far as another movie goes, I never wanted a colonisation movie anyway so the fact that 2012 has come and gone is a relief for me. They wouldn't have the budget for that overblown action-packed carnival. I'm in full support for a post-colonisation theme because there is a chance they can deliver a solid movie on budget. Make it rough and psychological and scary.

 

XF3 will be a survival movie and that's hot. Because when you think you're gonna die, and you think your soul mate - that hallowed friendship which keeps your heart beating - is gonna die, and yeah, maybe even your kid, the rules change. And that passion ignited against a backdrop of turmoil and breakdown of society is fascinating. But alas CC is attending these meetings. Instead of a woman or a poet.

 

And unlike XF2, no one is bleating on and on about Samantha because that ol' side story is floating upside down on the duck pond.

 

Of course the character of William will be centre stage. Because he'll be a teenager and that's more marketable. He's the 'bridge' to help inform newer fans or random movie goers. I'd love to see him at 15 rolling his eyes and being all like, "eww you guys are way too old to kiss like that!"

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queequeg

queequeg

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Hi kilted!  Glad to see someone else here.  :)

 

I thought that was weird that Scully brought up Samantha in IWTB.  I guess I never really attributed Mulder's drive to find this FBI agent to her being some Samantha substitute.   I mean, was that not the point of Closure?  To provide Mulder with "closure?"  lol.   I thought they (1013) had sufficiently laid her to rest back in Season 7. 

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AntiBeeSpray

AntiBeeSpray

Hi kilted!  Glad to see someone else here.  :)

 

I thought that was weird that Scully brought up Samantha in IWTB.  I guess I never really attributed Mulder's drive to find this FBI agent to her being some Samantha substitute.   I mean, was that not the point of Closure?  To provide Mulder with "closure?"  lol.   I thought they (1013) had sufficiently laid her to rest back in Season 7. 

I did as well at first. It was meant just as the fact that he's still trying to help others out since he couldn't do the same for his sister. It's not meant as closure, since he already got that. 

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Bastet

Bastet

It was really clunky writing, like they were looking back over the script and Chris said to Frank, "Should we throw in a line about Samantha somewhere?" and Frank didn't have the sense to say, "Dude, she's starlight; move on."

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AntiBeeSpray

AntiBeeSpray

(edited)

It was really clunky writing, like they were looking back over the script and Chris said to Frank, "Should we throw in a line about Samantha somewhere?" and Frank didn't have the sense to say, "Dude, she's starlight; move on."

Yea it wasn't the best. But I don't think it was meant as such. He just felt like he had to help who he could since he couldn't help her. I think he pretty much moved on, other than that.

 

As for clunky, I found the novelization to be even more clunky O_o.

Edited by AntiBeeSpray
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queequeg

queequeg

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It was really clunky writing, like they were looking back over the script and Chris said to Frank, "Should we throw in a line about Samantha somewhere?" and Frank didn't have the sense to say, "Dude, she's starlight; move on."

 

I legit LOL'ed at this. 

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eleanorofaquitaine

eleanorofaquitaine

So to complete the rewatch in full, I watched I Want to Believe this morning.  I didn't hate it when I saw it in 2008, and that's basically where I still am now - not hating it. I mean, I would never say it's a great movie or a great episode of The X-Files but I think it takes more abuse than it deserves.

I think that the first part of the movie actually holds together rather well, it isn't until you really get to the last 30 minutes that it falls apart. I think that part of the problem is that we didn't actually spend any time with the Drs. Frankenstein (and clearly the Frankenstein story is something that Chris Carter is fascinated with, since that also underlies Post-Modern Prometheus).

There is one thing I think it is actually very good at - and that is, being a metaphor for how Catholics reacted to the clergy sexual abuse crisis.  I was very involved in the movement that emerged out of the clergy sexual abuse crisis, so I'm super sensitive to how tv shows and movies look at the crisis.  I actually don't have much of a problem with the notion that there may be both a desire for redemption and redemption forthcoming for the Fr. Joe character - that is part of what being Catholic is. But Scully's sense of suspicion towards him - and her struggles with the institutional Church, as it plays out in the hospital, is really spot on.

Beyond that, as I think has been said before, this movie works as more of a character study of Mulder and Scully, and where it falls down is on some of the inconsistencies.  I can believe Scully feeling frustrated by both Mulder's inaction before he gets involved with the FBI, and then his action when he gets drawn into the case, but it makes her look like more of a nag and more inconsistent than she usually is.  I think the movie gets Mulder actually right but that's probably not surprising, since Carter wrote it.  He always had a better handle on Mulder than Scully.

Anyway, as an episode, this probably would have been a middle of the pack episode, which is why it was probably so disappointing.  After so many years away, I think people wanted to be blown away by the return of M&S, and this wasn't it. But on its own terms, it isn't the failure that people make it out to be, IMO.

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AntiBeeSpray

AntiBeeSpray

I agree. But it was the last time, imo, that he even had a remote handle on either character. In s10, it was very disappointing. He seems to need help with writing now (not from his wife either, since that seemed to not help). Someone like Frank would be good. He balanced out CC's more extreme tendencies. IWTB wasn't perfect, but it was at least watchable. I liked where M & S were at, at the end of it. There was still an ounce of hope there. By comparison, Mulder's dying and they're still apart in s10. Just a real mess. I'm choosing to stay with IWTB for now and denying that CC's eps from s10 even exist. 

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baileythedog

baileythedog

I can quibble with the pacing of the S10 series but IMO the characters were spot on. It's the one thing that I think CC absolutely nailed with the return series. I recognized older, wearier, heartbroken Mulder and Scully immediately and understood precisely why they might not have made it as a romantic couple--or were at least on a break--but were still the most important people in each other's lives. 

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AntiBeeSpray

AntiBeeSpray

7 hours ago, baileythedog said:

I can quibble with the pacing of the S10 series but IMO the characters were spot on. It's the one thing that I think CC absolutely nailed with the return series. I recognized older, wearier, heartbroken Mulder and Scully immediately and understood precisely why they might not have made it as a romantic couple--or were at least on a break--but were still the most important people in each other's lives. 

I agree to disagree on that. There were times when I didn't recognize them at all when he wrote them. I recognized them more this time when others wrote them. That their son could have drove them apart (meaning the giveaway/adoption). But it wasn't CC's eps that made me think of that. His eps left a lot up in the air and just made me feel more angry and confused. There was nothing resolved in them. Not even at the end of Babylon.

And MS II, what a joke that was. The whole ep was pretty much her being worried and concerned about others and for/about Mulder and when she got to him, it was just anti-climatic. No touching, no kiss, no love. It was just clinical. I disliked that worse than the lame cliffhanger. It was a first in the whole series. For her or him not to touch when hurt or ill, just feels unnatural/alien.

But the least he could have done, is given us a bit more of a background as to why they split/took a break. Saying what he said (meaning the whole 'Mulder stayed in his underwear and was looking stuff up on the internet') wasn't good enough and felt like a slap in the face. Yes Darin kind of dealt with it with the whole 'The internet is not good for you, Mulder'... but it still feels incomplete somehow.

It's not enough anymore. To have them be 'friends'. I can watch that in older eps. It just feels as if he's chickening out in part. :\ But meh, it is what it is.

On break, I can take... somewhat. But it still feels forced and fake to me in his eps (exception being parts of MS and the beginning of Babylon (the office scene)).

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Bastet

Bastet

I went all in with this on my re-watch, because by watching all the special features, I watched the film three times -- once normally (but the extended version), once with CC and Spotnitz's commentary, and once with the menu telling me when behind-the-scenes features were available for the scene I was watching (and I watched every single one of them).

First, thank goodness for Spotnitz, because apparently he and CC argued throughout the writing process about how much religious stuff to put in; CC, who is "a man of faith," wanted more, and Spotnitz, who is not, kept resisting, saying he had no interest in putting out a movie he didn't believe in.  So, I can only imagine the crap we'd have wound up with had CC penned this alone rather than the compromise they reached.

Second, as a story, this movie kind of sucks.  A gruesome crime is somehow made uninteresting, there are disturbing implications to the characterization of the villains, Scully's job makes no sense (and, my stars, the Googling), and the attempts to tie things together fail.  Father Joe's psychic connection being to one of the villains, not the victim, and him sensing Agent Bannon as alive, because her body is hooked up to the villain, after they've found her head and know her to be dead, thus making him look like a fraud, works, actually - I have to give credit for that one thing.  But the whole "Don't give up" connection to Scully is awful.  They needed to give him something far more cryptic to say for her to take it as an instruction from her god.  And they needed something much more X-File-y than "hey, a psychic tells us he has the 411 on our missing agent" and Whitney's crush to explain why Fugitive!Mulder was requested and welcomed back in the first place.

But, as a study of Mulder and Scully's relationship at that point in their lives, it's lovely.  The relationship, and the improved version of Mulder, presented here sets the stage for the beautiful characterization of their relationship in season ten.  So I'm glad the film was made; Mulder actually listening to Scully and respecting the need for balance in their lives, before taking her on a tropical vacation is a far better place to leave them than curled up in some crappy motel room as they run for their lives.  (Plus, making and promoting this film is what made DD and GA not only put the past to rest, but start developing an actual friendship, so it's worth it for that alone.)  And, had this been a two-part episode, it would come across as a decent offering, one bridging the past and the future.  But as a movie five years in the making, it's disappointing.

Watching it right after watching Requiem (because I don't have, and don't want, seasons 8 and 9, although I may borrow my friend's discs just to see if I can sit through The Truth this time) made Mulder's pissiness about Scully not wanting to work the case with him jarring, since in Requiem he'd delivered that beautiful speech about the personal costs being too high, there being so much more for her to do with her life, and there needing to be an end.  Um, she's doing exactly what you said she should do, Mulder.

Watching it right after marathoning the series also made it jump out at me how many actors from the series appear in the film.  The doctor Scully is videoconferencing with is Lorena Gale ("Howard Graves is very dead").  The guy running the feed store was in a few early episodes.  The SAC for the case is the crazy tree lady from Schizogeny.  Agent Bannon is the waitress from PMP.  The second victim is Chastity from Rush.  One of the villains is Callum Keith Rennie, who was in a couple of early episodes.  Plus cameos by CC, Vanessa Morley (Samantha), and producer J.P. Finn.

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eleanorofaquitaine

eleanorofaquitaine

To me. two things about that movie work - M&S's relationship and the religious stuff if you view Scully's views regarding Fr. Joe as a metaphor for the clergy sexual abuse crisis.  But the final act of the film is a confusing mess, which undermines the decent parts of the film. 

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AntiBeeSpray

AntiBeeSpray

On 12/3/2017 at 2:01 PM, Bastet said:

I went all in with this on my re-watch, because by watching all the special features, I watched the film three times -- once normally (but the extended version), once with CC and Spotnitz's commentary, and once with the menu telling me when behind-the-scenes features were available for the scene I was watching (and I watched every single one of them).

First, thank goodness for Spotnitz, because apparently he and CC argued throughout the writing process about how much religious stuff to put in; CC, who is "a man of faith," wanted more, and Spotnitz, who is not, kept resisting, saying he had no interest in putting out a movie he didn't believe in.  So, I can only imagine the crap we'd have wound up with had CC penned this alone rather than the compromise they reached.

Second, as a story, this movie kind of sucks.  A gruesome crime is somehow made uninteresting, there are disturbing implications to the characterization of the villains, Scully's job makes no sense (and, my stars, the Googling), and the attempts to tie things together fail.  Father Joe's psychic connection being to one of the villains, not the victim, and him sensing Agent Bannon as alive, because her body is hooked up to the villain, after they've found her head and know her to be dead, thus making him look like a fraud, works, actually - I have to give credit for that one thing.  But the whole "Don't give up" connection to Scully is awful.  They needed to give him something far more cryptic to say for her to take it as an instruction from her god.  And they needed something much more X-File-y than "hey, a psychic tells us he has the 411 on our missing agent" and Whitney's crush to explain why Fugitive!Mulder was requested and welcomed back in the first place.

But, as a study of Mulder and Scully's relationship at that point in their lives, it's lovely.  The relationship, and the improved version of Mulder, presented here sets the stage for the beautiful characterization of their relationship in season ten.  So I'm glad the film was made; Mulder actually listening to Scully and respecting the need for balance in their lives, before taking her on a tropical vacation is a far better place to leave them than curled up in some crappy motel room as they run for their lives.  (Plus, making and promoting this film is what made DD and GA not only put the past to rest, but start developing an actual friendship, so it's worth it for that alone.)  And, had this been a two-part episode, it would come across as a decent offering, one bridging the past and the future.  But as a movie five years in the making, it's disappointing.

Watching it right after watching Requiem (because I don't have, and don't want, seasons 8 and 9, although I may borrow my friend's discs just to see if I can sit through The Truth this time) made Mulder's pissiness about Scully not wanting to work the case with him jarring, since in Requiem he'd delivered that beautiful speech about the personal costs being too high, there being so much more for her to do with her life, and there needing to be an end.  Um, she's doing exactly what you said she should do, Mulder.

Watching it right after marathoning the series also made it jump out at me how many actors from the series appear in the film.  The doctor Scully is videoconferencing with is Lorena Gale ("Howard Graves is very dead").  The guy running the feed store was in a few early episodes.  The SAC for the case is the crazy tree lady from Schizogeny.  Agent Bannon is the waitress from PMP.  The second victim is Chastity from Rush.  One of the villains is Callum Keith Rennie, who was in a couple of early episodes.  Plus cameos by CC, Vanessa Morley (Samantha), and producer J.P. Finn.

I agree in part. In s10, that characterization was pooped on by CC's eps in my opinion. Glen was one of the few that came closest to that version of Mulder.

Maybe, but I still found it better than what CC gave us in s10. That stuff was beyond embarrassing.

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TheGreenWave

TheGreenWave

On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2014 at 6:07 PM, queequeg said:

So after much pondering and soul searching, I'm not really sure I have much to say about IWTB.  It wasn't awful, but I didn't really love it either.  If I'm grabbing an X-Files movie to watch, I'm fairly certain I'll reach for Fight the Future 99.9% of the time.  I kinda get why they did a MOTW, but I think I would have preferred something involving the mytharc, as messy as that was at the end.  Maybe a little wrap-up with the whole William thing?  Something to help tie up loose ends.  And I don't dislike MOTWs, some of my favorite eps are MOTWs, but it's just a very "meh" MOTW.   I think the thing that concerns me the most, is if they never get XF3, is this really how X-Files deserves to go out? 

 

On to a few points that I remember (because it's been a couple weeks):

 

  • This movie may be the first instance that Scully just really annoyed me.  And I'm usually a HUGE Scully homer.  She gets Mulder involved, with the promise of the FBI dropping the previous BS charges against him, so yay!   But then spends the rest of the movie running around all pissy and whiny about the darkness, and what being involved like this does to Mulder... blah blah blah.  Scully, we know you have got to know him better that.  What did you think would happen?  Geez.  I was thrilled when Mulder finally said, "Scully, this is who I am. It's who I've always been. This is who I was before I met you. It's what I do, it's everything I know."  Because, pretty much.
  • Who are these two pointless agents they bring in?   Where's Doggett?  Reyes?  I would have rather seen a return of them than these two.  Meh.  They left such an impact on me I can't remember their names 2 weeks later. 
  • Skinner!!!  Glad to see somebody from the good 'ole days, although way to drag him in at the very end.
  • Why is "I'm a medical doctor!" Scully Googling stem cell therapy?  Aren't there like medical journal databases?  Also, don't they have neurosurgeons for this kind of thing?  Or any kind of surgeon?  Why is Scully performing brain surgery on this kid?  Is Scully a surgeon?  It's just a very strange situation. 
  • Also, Skinner and his, "Maybe I could Google it."  heh.  How much money did Google throw at this movie?  ;)
  • Maybe Google can pay for XF3?!?!  (are you reading this Google?  I know you are!)

 

Overall, I think had I seen this movie in '08 after a long X-Files hiatus I would have enjoyed it more.  Coming off of all 9 seasons and directly into this movie, outside of Mulder and Scully and seeing them together, the story just didn't hold my interest all that well.  But I think in '08 I would have been cheesed just to see them together again in something new.

I agree with all of your post.  She gets Mulder out of retirement, but then spends a nauseating amount of time telling him why she can't be involved in the case or help him out.  And the only reason they had her get all angsty with the boy was so that she could Google "stem cell research" and then inadvertently print an article out about Russian dog surgeries?  What?!  And, how in the hell did Dacyshyn get a bunch of people to go along with his macabre kidnapping/surgery/murder scheme?  

Since this year marks the 25 anniversary of the series, BBCA has been airing the previous seasons, including the movies.  I just caught this one again (I think I've now seen it three times, including when it first came out) this past weekend.  Unlike some of my rewatching of older episodes that I previously didn't like but now can appreciate, IWTB did not get better with time.  I do get that they wanted to do something other than the Myth Arc, and that the strike situation left the script a bit rough around the edges, but this wasn't even a real MOTW or compelling, it was a sick kidnapper/serial killer mutilating people to heal/fix his husband.  I would have settled for a Killer Tree or something.  But, he was more like Pfaster (in Irresistible) than any of the typical MsOTW.

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