THE X-FILES (Fox - 1998) Starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Martin Landau, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Blythe Danner, William B. Davis, John Neville Screenplay by Chris Carter Produced by Chris Carter, Daniel Sackheim Directed by Rob Bowman Running time: 120 minutes
**1/2 (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: B-
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I feel obliged to begin by clarifying that I'm not exactly an ardent follower of THE X-FILES, the acclaimed Fox sci-fi television series which began its run five years ago as a bottom-dweller in the Neilsen ratings only to steadily gain momentum and evolve from a beloved cult fave into a outright mainstream phenomenon and bonafide international hit. I've watched about a dozen episodes of the TV show in full -- easily less than the typical rabid fan, but sufficient to be familiar with the histories and adventures of FBI agents Scully and Mulder. (Additionally, one of my current occupational hazards finds me privy to amusingly avid, earnest discussion and reverential dissection of the storylines for such TV series as THE X-FILES, STAR TREK: VOYAGER, and BABYLON 5 -- in short, I couldn't get away from the show if I tried.) In all fairness, Chris Carter's creation is probably one of the most imaginative of today's television shows, and has demonstrably struck a chord with the highly-coveted 15 - 24 demographic, making it an optimal candidate for translation to the big screen.
However, as a film THE X-FILES (the FIGHT THE FUTURE subtitle featured so prominently in its marketing campaign incidentally appears nowhere during the title credits) faces some unique challenges. As with all television series-turned-cinematic events, it's required to present sufficient backstory in order for newcomers to get up to speed while still remaining palatable to the faithful. The situation here, however, is even more of a precarious balancing act -- as a rare TV series to make the leap to the silver screen in the midst of its ongoing run, it's faced with the obstacle of unraveling its intricately-woven storyline to a point where a satisfying film conclusion can be achieved, yet is obligated to leave enough plot points unanswered in order to keep fans hooked for the upcoming television season.
As such, the film fares about as well as can be expected. Familiar regulars of the series such as The Lone Gunmen (Dean Haglund, Bruce Harwood and Tom Braidwood), The Cigarette-Smoking Man (William B. Davis), The Well-Manicured Man (John Neville), and assistant FBI director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) are trotted out for their obligatory appearances, while the film infuses prodigious veteran talents like Martin Landau, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Blythe Danner in newly-conceived roles.
Ultimately, however, the addition of new blood matters little, for THE X-FILES is most assuredly a vehicle for the continuing mythos of agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) as they strive to uncover the truth behind the sinister government conspiracy to discredit evidence pertaining to the existence of extraterrestrial life here on Earth. Resuming where the '97-'98 TV season cliffhanger left off, the film finds our intrepid duo struggling against a powerful faction of master manipulators to overcome roadblocks thrown up from every direction as their own gravely somber interpersonal chemistry continues to evolve. (One rather disingenuous subplot falls victim to the awkward circumstances constraining the film -- while it's always a stretch to envision one of the protagonists surrendering the good fight, it's virtually impossible to swallow here given that the character threatening to quit is the same one we'll see on the tube in September when the series resumes.)
It's perhaps inappropriate to dismiss the film as simply a larger-scaled version of one of the TV episodes given the presence of strikingly atypical elements which are clearly aimed to broaden its mainstream appeal. Unlike its dour tube counterpart, THE X-FILES is notably more jokey, with Scully and Mulder trading the occasional tongue-in-cheek quip and droll one-liner. (The rooftop scene which introduces our heroes is particularly self-conscious, calculatingly playing riffs almost as if directly out of a buddy movie.) The sense of humour isn't particularly clever and not exactly welcome, although I did appreciate the light-hearted jab at Mr. Duchovny's legendary expressive qualities.
Where the film differs the most from the TV series is in its usage of extravagant set pieces, including the bombing of a Dallas federal office tower (in shades of the infamous 1995 Oklahoma City event), a cat-and-mouse helicopter chase through cornfields (an obvious homage to NORTH BY NORTHWEST), and even an action finale in the snowy reaches of Antarctica. These showy sequences, competently staged in the film, are virtually impossible to pull off under the budgetary and time constraints of a TV series but fit quite nicely within the scope of a summer event film. Whether or not they properly coalesce with a piece like THE X-FILES, however, is a matter of debate.
The show has always been at its best as an enigmatic, paranoiac meditative with a pervasive atmosphere of mistrust, and consequently it seems a bit off-kilter to witness the film as opened-up to such a degree. The small-scaled, low-key approach employed in the TV series is most effective in conveying its grim, creepy tone; it's no coincidence that the scenes in the film which remain most truthful to the spirit of the series -- the shady exchanges between Mulder and Dr. Kurtzweil in the darkened alleys -- are the most effective. With THE X-FILES, bigger is not necessarily better.
It's also a bit disconcerting to witness how gleefully THE X-FILES embraces the slam-bam mentality of the typical Hollywood action flick. The novelty of the television series is that it's a show propelled by ideas and imagination, and yet in the film we're reduced to watching Mulder heroically charging through the snow like a scrawnier, dapper Arnold Schwarzenegger clone to come to the rescue of imprisoned damsel-in-distress Scully, a perturbing step backward from the equal status the partners unquestionably share as TV characters. If joining the Hollywood brethren on the big screen implies that THE X-FILES is going to hereinafter *emulate* them at the cost of its foreboding signature style, perhaps it's best to stay on its home turf.
Bridging the fifth and sixth seasons of the TV series, the film version of THE X-FILES ultimately resolves very little of its outstanding mysteries, as it logically must. As the film concludes, in many ways we've traveled shockingly little from where we were as the opening credits rolled, and yet it's not a dissatisfactory watch, liberally sprinkling adventure, conflict, and verve into its mix of aliens, conspiracies, and overcoats. Given the involved nature of its storyline, it likely plays plays best to those who have invested much into its characters.
- Alex Fung
email: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
--
Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
"Only a twerp would castigate an audience for its enjoyment of something."
- Pauline Kael
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