A Review From the Middle Seat Center
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE
F.B.I. special agents, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), search for that elusive "truth" each week on the hit television show, "The X-Files." Week after week, millions tune- in to see the two delve into the strange and bizarre cases that the rest of the bureau won't touch. While most of the cases they investigate deal with unusual, and even sometimes supernatural, phenomenon, the "guts" of the series deals with Fox Mulder's search for proof of the existence of aliens, and the mysterious group of men that will stop at nothing to prevent him, or the rest of the world, from finding out "the truth." And now, Mulder and Scully's quest for that "truth" moves to the next level, because...
THE MOVIE IS OUT THERE
Series creator, Chris Carter, director Rob Bowman, and Twentieth Century Fox, have brought the hugely popular television show to the big screen with the release of THE X-FILES: FIGHT THE FUTURE. It must have been a fairly easy task (although I'm sure they would disagree with me). They already had developed characters, a relationship and history between those characters, a recognizable framework for a story to be woven around, and millions of fans as a built-in audience base. The only real question was whether or not non fans could follow the film and enjoy it. The answer to that question is, "yes" and "no." The film can be followed and enjoyed as a work standing on its own, but, speaking as a fan, it must be like eating a bowl of banana pudding after all the bananas are gone. You can enjoy the pudding part, but you are kind of missing the whole point. Carter, who wrote the screenplay, tries to let the uninitiated in on the fun with bits of "background information" sprinkled throughout the dialogue, but that really isn't enough. There are several situations throughout the film that cannot be fully understood unless you are a fan. The same is true with a handful of characters that pop up. Unless you have watched the show, you will not know who they are, or what they are doing there. It may have been better to have had a script that dealt with a basic "X-Files" story, instead of the series mythos. That would have pleased the fans, and allowed X-Files "newbies" to get to know the characters, and get a "feel" for the show. Instead, the film opens where the season finale left off, to a certain degree. None of the characters or the situations set up in that episode remains except for the fact that the Cigarette-Smoking Man has returned, and that the X-files have been shut down. The movie starts with Mulder and Scully having been assigned "normal" duties. But as it often happens when this pair is involved, the "normal" has a way of turning into something "paranormal," and soon the two find themselves pulled into a conspiracy that threatens to wipe out life on Earth as we know it. What follows is a two-hour television episode with higher production values, bigger and more expensive special effects, familiar supporting characters (to the fans anyway), and some four-letter words that are not allowed on network television. This film has the distinction of being the only movie based on a prime-time television show that will still be in production when the networks start the new television season. But that is also its greatest flaw. Since we already know that Mulder and Scully will have new adventures this fall, we are not concerned with their well-being throughout the movie, thus killing any suspense. In addition, we also know that circumstances will only allow for just a small bit of that "truth" that our heroes have been searching for to be revealed, and that something will happen that will cause the X-files to be reopened. Paramount may have had the right idea with its "Star Trek" features; wait until the series finishes its t.v. run so you can have more freedom with your characters and story lines. Another flaw is that the film doesn't play on its strongest elements. One of the things that draws viewers to the show is its creepiness. Some of the episodes are very scary. That comes from the writing and the different, bizarre things that Scully and Mulder look into. With a "mythos" script, you don't get to go explore those dark, scary places. All you mainly have to deal with is intrigue. But what really brings viewers back each week are the characters of Mulder and Scully. Viewers want to see these two characters react to situations and play off each other; they want to see them interact, both professionally and personally. Sadly, there is very little of that in this film. Make no mistake. This is David Duchovny's film. He is in nearly every scene, and by the middle of the movie, Gillian Anderson's part has been reduced to that of "damsel-in-distress." Basically, THE X-FILES: FIGHT THE FUTURE is just a reward for all its loyal fans; a chance to see Mulder and Scully do their stuff on the big screen. Also, it is a chance to pull in some new fans, and establish some new characters and situations for the up coming season. New fans mean a bigger audience base for the next feature. Oh, yes......
A SEQUEL IS OUT THERE
Cast: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Martin Landau, William B. Davis, John Neville, Mitch Pillegi, Blythe Danner, and Armin Mueller-Stahl. Rated: PG-13 for violence and some intense situations I give it ** out of a possible four.
That was the view from The Middle Seat Center
- John Collins
number.6@mindspring.com
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews