THE X FILES (1998)
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2004
The author of this review is more than aware than his work won't
please anyone. I have received plenty of critical feedback and some of
it was justified. In other cases criticism often showed misconception
of what the movie reviewing was all about. One of the most common
complaints about my reviews was that they weren't "objective".
Those words always brought smile to my face. In my view, any
movie review is supposed to be subjective rather than objective.
Some are more subjective than others, though. Review for THE X
FILES, 1998 science fiction thriller directed by Rob Bowman, is one of
them.
The movie is based on THE X-FILES, popular TV series created by
Chris Carter in 1993. The author of this review used to be a huge fan
of the show, especially after watching first three seasons. I was
captivated by the show's ability to use even the most ridiculous
concepts of modern mythology in an original and intellectually
stimulating fashion. However, in subsequent seasons growth of the
show's popularity led to all-too-familiar and in many ways inevitable
decline of quality. That decline was such that I simply refused to
watch last few seasons, seeing the new episodes grotesquely inferior
to those made in the beginning.
The biggest reason for that decline came from the show creators'
efforts to broaden the base of THE X-FILES viewers. Part of that
effort was the unprecedented move in the history of motion pictures
business. In the past, the only TV shows deemed fit to have its own
movie version were those already cancelled and with the proven
popularity that could be exploited at the box office. THE X-FILES was
the first show to have its own movie version while still being
produced. The reason for this decision was the revolutionary use of
feature film - released during summer of 1998, between two regular
American TV seasons - to increase the show's profile and broaden
the audience. In the same time, judging by the ratings, the existing
TV audience was supposed to guarantee commercial success of the
movie.
That had an important implication for the content and the quality of
the film. The film's plot continued the plot developed in the first five
seasons of the series; the movie had to be integral part of the show's
narrative structure. On the other hand, the movie had to be
understandable for the audience unfamiliar with the show's
complicated storyline, themes and characters. The compromise
between those conflicting agendas was at the expense of the script's
quality.
The protagonists of the show and the film are Fox Mulder (played by
David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson),
two FBI agents that had been assigned to the "X Files", unsolved cases
involving UFOs and other paranormal phenomena. The plot is set
some time after the events shown in "The End", the last episode of the
show's 5th season (1997/98). After the burning of their office and
destruction of all Mulder's files two agents have been reassigned to
FBI counterterrorism unit. They are sent to Dallas in a vain attempt to
thwart the bombing of federal building. Following the explosion and
death of few people, Mulder and Scully have to answer to
disciplinary panel, leading Scully to consider resignation from FBI. In
the meantime, Mulder is approached by Dr. Aaron Kurtzweill
(played by Martin Landau), mysterious scientist who tells him that
the bombing was part of conspiracy to hide truth about deadly
extraterrestrial disease from the public. The syndicate behind the
conspiracy has few scruples when it comes to dealing with two FBI
agents and Scully gets abducted and exposed to alien virus. Mulder
must save her by finding a vaccine and rushing towards the alien
ship buried in the ice of Antarctica.
Scriptwriters Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz made a biggest mistake
when they decided to base their film on the show's "mythology" plot
about extraterrestrials, their alliance with sinister government figures
and even more sinister plans for the future of Earth. "Mythology" was
gradually developed in episodes that hadn't dealt with so called
"monsters of the week". In 1998 became it became the weakest
element of the whole show. With too many plot contradictions
between various episodes the show's "mythology" increasingly
depended on "cool" special effects and plot twists more suitable for
soap operas. THE X FILES movie continues with this tradition.
Hardly any important plot issue of the first five seasons has been
resolved and the movie doesn't do it either. Instead, the movie
version of THE X FILES is lame excuse for few impressive scenes
featuring special effects, weak dialogue, inept characterisation, some
cheap melodrama and plenty of scenes that contradict common
sense. Some events in the film happen out of blue simply because
Carter and Spotnitz don't know how to resolve certain plot situations
in credible manner. Many talented actors like Terry O'Quinn, Blythe
Danner and Glenne Headley are wasted in undeveloped roles, while
some iconic characters of the show (like Skinner and Lone Gunmen)
appear as rather unnecessary cameos.
To make things even worse, THE X FILES doesn't look very original.
Some of the film's images have been "borrowed" from SMILLA'S
SENSE OF SNOW, while the extraterrestrial monster bears too much
resemblance to the monster appearing at the end of ALIEN:
RESURRECTION. Mark Snow's music that had contributed to the
show's atmosphere with its unique style is here replaced with more
conventional soundtrack. The show's recognisable theme sounds
unnatural in the new version. Use of Californian locations, on the
other hand, looks refreshing to those accustomed to Vancouver
locations used in the first five seasons of the show. Rob Bowman's
direction is solid, but he simply can't compensate for the tragic flaws
of the script.
As a standalone science fiction thriller, X FILES is a disappointment,
because it uses the plot which is both convoluted and simplified and,
in the end, unresolved (deliberately, because some issues had to be
left for the sixth season of the show). Seen as an episode of the show,
X FILES is also disappointing - already complicated "mythology" is
further complicated, while the dialogue, characters and some plot
twists are beneath the show's standards.
In short, X FILES is a huge disappointment. Show's high standards
were compromised for commercial considerations resulting in a film
that is close to travesty for all those who had built their expectations
on the first three seasons of the show. On the other hand, those
viewers who aren't familiar to the show are more likely to have better
opinion of the film. In some instances opinions of the embittered TV
show fans should be taken with a huge grain of salt.
RATING: 2/10 (-)
Review written on April 8th 2004
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in
Croatian
http://www.ofcs.org - Online Films Critics Society
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