Instead what we got was a very simple story barely worthy of an X-Files TV episode and a subplot with only a tenuous link to the main plot. There was some stuff to like about it though. The film didn’t get bogged down in trying to fill in the gap of the last six years, the Mulder & Scully relationship was kept understated and it adequately dealt with issues of belief, faith, morals, etc. among the main characters. Some of the outdoor scenes in the snow were nicely shot and there were a lot of night scenes, reminiscent of the television episodes. I also loved all the little nods to the ardent fan. Since seeing the film I’ve even read about a couple more injokes that I hadn’t noticed. It was also fun to recognise some of downtown Vancouver in one scene.

The film had a supposed $30m budget and will need to top that comfortably in box office takings if Fox are to greenlight another film in the franchise. For an opening day release, the theatre I was in had a good crowd but was nowhere near sold out (unlike the myriad Batman showings over the last week).

I really hope we get a third X-Files as it will probably go back to dealing with the overall mythology arc of the show, particularly with 2012 being set as a pivotal year in the show’s storyline some time ago. But that hypothetical film would require a bigger budget and I fear that it might not happen.

Anyway, I give ‘I Want to Believe’ 5 crumbs out of 10.

There’s quite a bit of good to the film but a quite a lot of bad too (pretty much like the lead character). The third act in particular is woeful. I did like the whole concept of the alcoholic, inconsiderate superhero and I’ve read that the original screenplay was much darker and so too was the first cut of the film but it suffered a lot of edits to avoid an R rating. That kind of told in the film. I got a real feeling that there was so much more that could have been done with it. I think it would make an interesting television series but that’s probably unlikely. 4 crumbs out of 10.

I decided to walk back home from Kits. I wasn’t totally sure of which way to go or how far it was but I have a good sense of direction and I like to gamble so away I went. It took just under an hour which wasn’t too bad.

Browsing the web this evening I was pleasantly surprised to read that The X-Files 2 is a runner. The long rumoured second movie will be filmed right here in Vancouver where the first five seasons of the TV show were filmed. They’re shooting it over the winter which means that they want the dark, rainy atmosphere that was such an important part of the show before production was moved to LA. Can’t wait for this!