Disappointment and Big Decisions

So after a few months of waiting we finally were able to see the movie “X-Files: I Want to Believe.” So I guess it’s more than a few months of waiting, more like a few years. It’s been six years since the end of the show and I was, to put it lightly, a big fan. The X-Files always seemed like the show that could take for a Sunday night ride. For one hour you could jump into whatever story Chris Carter and his writing staff would put you through. And the show looked fantastic with their creative use of the beautiful land of Vancouver. For five seasons they used Vancouver and its surrounding areas for the show, and with a little bit of creativity had the audience believing they were anywhere in the US, Russia or China. And you didn’t have to watch the previous episode to know what was happening. One episode might have you watch Mulder and Scully uncover government tested alien-hybrid bodies in the desert of Arizona while the next would have you believe you’re in small town Oklahoma tracking down a boy who controls lightening. And you believed it, well, as much as you could. You believed that Mulder wanted to find the truth, which he wanted to believe. The show was great. Then, as all Fox series, the more popular they get the more they’re doomed. Fox moved them from Vancouver to LA…and with that, the soul was lost. Big budgets, location shooting and the curse that is LA writers ruined the show we once held precious. No longer would we have them searching for Mulder’s sister in an abandoned cabin in the forest, but high budget helicopter shots of drives through the Californian desert. The show lasted four more years then ended due to lack of interest and detest for the attempted replacements of Mulder and Scully. Not to mentions some stupid baby plot-line. Anyway, so that was six years ago and I had been looking forward to this film since they said they were going back to Vancouver to film it. My mistake in believing Fox would not disappoint me.

*Movie Spoilers*

So those locations I was talking about? All snow covered. We saw the conifers and the hills were green, but we couldn’t see much through all that snow. They filmed inland during the dead of winter and it didn’t look much like Virginia, which is where they said they were, at all. So the movie opens with a kidnapping, by normal people, and FBI people searching in the snow with some guy with long hair somewhat leading them. Then they find an arm, okay? Six years and this is the creepy opening we get? The last movie had cavemen killing aliens in the opening scene…I don’t want a repeat, just come on…an arm? I might as well watch CSI, which I’d rather not do. Then we have something Scully who is now a full-time doctor and she is confronted by an FBI agent who wants Mulder’s help. Well then we go to Mulder, who has grown a dirty beard and made another office in Scully’s house, we guess. He agrees to come help find this agent, who we find out was the lady who was kidnapped. They jabber on about stuff we don’t care about and after a door slam he agrees to come. Now, this is where they lost me. In the finally of the series, Mulder escaped the military who was bent on making alien hybrid fighters for the aliens who would re-populate the earth in 2012…yeah, I didn’t say I liked that plot line much. So anyway, the military wants him dead, not the FBI, and he comes out of hiding to help the FBI. Well, we’ll fix that with one line of dialogue, guess they don’t care anymore. We arrive at the FBI building, without the classic outside shot of the J. Edgar Hoover building! And then are walked through the halls and stop in front of a picture of President Bush and hear the X-Files six-note theme, we don’t know why, but like many plot-holes in this movie, we move on.

So Mulder goes out and finds this guy, taking Scully and two agents who serve no purpose in the movie yet still get lines and paychecks. We find him living in a compound with other pedophiles that police each other and live together…kinda like Alien 3, but dumber. So they walk in, start talking, Scully acts un-professional and then she and Mulder once again, jabber on. Then we go to a spooning scene with trashy “Californication” dialogue and find out they have no recollection of why they gave up Scully’s child, William, but go ahead and mention him anyway. Scully brings up something about a chemical they found in the severed arm that is used for restraining dogs. Gasp! Could they have compiled a list for all the people who have licenses to carry this chemical? Or should we just have a scene where Mulder shaves then they go and find the psychic again? Sadly, they chose the latter.

The movie carries on like this, trying to get Mulder and Scully to have on-screen chemistry, but it just isn’t there. There was a bunch of stupid stuff in the movie. Some chase scene where an agent gets impaled in a construction site. Scully doing research for a stem-cell treatment on Google. Scully comparing this search to Mulder’s sister. It was just bad. I wish they hadn’t made the movie at all. It was an insult to fans who waiting for a long time. We didn’t want to see Mulder and Scully kiss. We knew they cared about each other. We want to see ghosts, mutants, sea monsters and the occasional alien. We don’t want you to throw four different shows you wanted to do into one hour and 44 minutes. So those are my thoughts, it was very bad and it was clear neither of the actors wanted to be there. I would like to thank the Fox Corporation for, once again, ruining something so many people had looked forward to. We’ll end the movie review at that.

Now, onto decision making. We have to decide whether we want another year here or not. I do not know what to do. I want to get back into school, but stuff here has been alright. We’re secure in what we’re doing and love the travel. I cannot believe I saw Angkor Wat this summer, never thought I would be able to go. On the other hand, Devan hates it here. It would be very cruel of me to keep her here. She might not hate, hate it but it’s not what either of us want to be doing. We enjoyed it for six months, but we’re not sure if we want to do it 18 more. All I can do is hope we make the right decision. Thanks for reading and send a prayer when you get a chance.