Reviewed by Max Foizey.

Release Date: July 25, 2008
Directed By: Chris Carter
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Billy Connolly
Rating: PG-13

When the FBI sent Dana Scully to discredit agent Fox Mulder's work on paranormal cases, a classic television franchise was born. Years before Lost, The X-Files set the template for supernatural anthology shows, inspiring Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, and, well, Supernatural. It featured a rich (and never fully explained) mythology, but some of its best episodes were stand alone stories and monsters, such as the Flukeman and the Peacock family. (In the very scary and disturbing episode Home.)

Ten years after their first big screen adventure in The X-Files: Fight the Future, Mulder and Scully are back in The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Unfortunately, they're back in a bad movie.

Neither Mulder nor Scully work for the FBI anymore, but are drawn back to help investigate a case of a missing agent. Seems a priest is having psychic visions of the abduction, but the Feds don't know if he can be trusted. One, he's a priest claiming to be psychic. Two, he's a pedophile. Ok.

As Father Joseph, Billy Connolly has far and away the most interesting part, and he doesn't disappoint. I Imagine a lot of actors would shy away from playing a psychic pedophile priest (or is that pedophile psychic priest?) but Connolly does so with aplomb. His character brings up tough questions of forgiveness, repentance, and faith. If only the movie focused more on these questions, and less on missing agent.

Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner is capable but distracting as FBI Agent Mosley Drummy, who is the skeptic Scully used to be. (I kept waiting for him to Pimp Scully's Ride.) As Drummy's partner, I quite enjoyed Amanda Peet's chemistry with David Duchovny. It's a shame she's only in the first half of the film.

While David Duchovny easily slips back into Fox Mulder with a bemused look on his face, Gillian Anderson seems shocked to be back in Scully's skin. When Scully tells Mulder the X-Files isn't a part of her life anymore, it's hard to tell if that's the character or the actress talking.

Outside of the opening scenes, series creator Chris Carter's direction lacks passion or focus. I know this is supposed to be a stand alone story, but how about a shout-out to the Lone Gunmen? Where's Frank Black? Where's Walter Skinner? OK, Mitch Pileggi shows up out of the blue as Skinner, but only for a few moments and he doesn't do anything of note.

As much as I loved the TV show, neither X-film does the program justice. Fight the Future tried too hard to delve into the mythology and became nearly incomprehensible, whereas I Want to Believe is a stand alone story that fails to capture any of the magic of the show.

Ready for a new kind of radio? Check out the award winning Max On Movies, every Saturday from 2-4pm on 97.1 FM Talk. You'll hear breaking news about upcoming films, reviews of the latest theatrical and DVD releases, and interviews with your favorite actors, directors, and writers. Max On Movies was awarded a Certificate of Merit in the Special Program category from the Missouri Broadcasters Association in 2007. A member of the Saint Louis Film Critics, Max has written about film for various print and Web media, and appeared as guest critic on nationally syndicated radio shows. Max wishes Xzibit and Peet's characters had been Doggett and Reyes instead. E-mail Max at mfoizey@stl.emmis.com