X-Files: I Want to Believe (X-Files 2) - Preview

X-Files: I Want to Believe (X-Files 2) Movie Poster

Discuss this movie on our message board!

Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: 2008-07-25

Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly

Directed by Chris Carter

Produced by Chris Carter. Frank Spotnitz

Written by Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz

Visit the movie's Official Site!

Previewed by Josh Tyler : 2008-06-26 01:28:11

In grand "X-Files" manner, the film's storyline is being kept under wraps. This much can be revealed: It is a stand-alone story in the tradition of some of the show's most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and takes the complicated relationship between Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) in unexpected directions. Mulder continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully, the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder's pursuits.

The X-Files may have been legally dead for the past ten years, but the once popular franchise’s fans are still alive and kicking. All it took was the announcement of a new movie to get former X-Files fanatics out of their PTA meetings and onto the internet, scouring for information about future of a franchise they’d probably long ago written off as finished business.

Unfortunately those now somewhat older fans fired up their Dell Desktops and found not the loving embrace of a returning franchise reaching out to its re-energized fanbase. What they found instead was secrecy, paranoia, and worse, flat out disinformation rumored to have been released by the very people those fans were intent on supporting. The truth isn’t out there. It’s all part of Hollywood’s new policy of inviting franchise fans to quite simply drop dead.

X-Files 2 isn’t the first to do it, or even the only franchise doing it right now, it’s just the most blatant. Gone are the days when movies like Lord of the Rings used the power of internet to reach out to fans, to bring them along with the production. At the time, we thought sites like LOTR’s TheOneRing.net and Superman Returns’ BlueTights.net were starting a revolution in fan/filmmaker interaction. And even though those and other similar endeavors to bring fans right into the middle of major movie productions were a success, Hollywood seems to have chosen to scapegoat them for every hiccup the industry has had since. X-Files 2 is part of a new attitude in fan/franchise relations. An attitude which says “screw all of you, we’d rather have our tickets bought by bawdy, half-retarded teenagers who don’t give a shit”.

The door may be closed, leaving fans of big, genre franchises like X-Files on the outside looking in, but that doesn’t have to mean the movie won’t be any good. Even though there have been rumblings from the X-Files team which indicate that catering to fans isn’t exactly their first priority, it’s hard to imagine a movie which colors so far outside the lines that it’ll be anything less than instantly recognizable as the old familiar X-Files style. If creator Chris Carter and his crew are truly intent on bringing in new fans to replace the now over 30 and therefore less desirable ones they have, the worst you can expect is a Mulder/Scully dance number, or perhaps some sort of alien American Idol competition. I’m voting for Xenu, after all he trained John Travolta.

In the end, no one will care if they reached out to fans, if they lied to them, if they mislead them, or even if Chris Carter get sidetracked by a Scientology dance break, as long as the movie is good. At some point you’ll get a trailer, you’ll get a poster, you’ll see the movie, enjoy it, and five minutes later forget about it. Maybe it’s for the best.

upcoming movie

Latest Previews:

More Than A Game

Extract

Aliens in the Attic

The Twilight Saga New Moon

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

The Smurfs

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Hot Tub Time Machine

The Informant!

The Last Airbender

Josh's Must Own Movies List

Image Gallery for X-Files: I Want to Believe (X-Files 2)

Comment on “X-Files: I Want to Believe (X-Files 2)”

Note: This website is not meant for use by minors. The views expressed in the comments section below are not our own. This section is intended for discussion of the topic in the post above. Disagreement is encouraged, however comments which attack, insult, or threaten the author in a personal manner won't be published. Similarly, comments that we deem to be poorly worded, or wildly off topic will also not be approved and may be mocked. For free, uncensored, unfettered, and possibly dangerous discussion visit our forum.

Subscribe to topic comments

0 0 / 0
y n

Eric Dale Eubanks
July 7, 2008 at 15:33

Part of the joy of THE X-FILES and MILLENNIUM [and LOST, for those too young to have followed X-FILES] depends upon the element of surprise. Carter famously would answer major questions a few at a time, and a season and a half later would rescind those answers.

Keeping things under wraps keeps you tuning in. Or buying tickets.

I often wonder what a lot of bloggers/fanboys get out of a film if they know every detail of it beforehand.

Embrace the element of surprise!

EDE

OH. And TRUST NO ONE.

Reply
0 0 / 0
y n

trent
June 2, 2008 at 16:42

They are just trying to keep the plot from getting out, therefore keeping it interesting, unlike every other film out there. RELAX.

Reply
0 0 / 0
y n

Cait
April 1, 2008 at 13:04

As long as the FANS of the series are excited for the upcoming film [and judging from WonderCon, PaleyFest, and all of the Internet chatter], than it does not really matter if a non-"Phile" is annoyed by the supposed "false reports." A self-proclaimed X-Phile myself [and I'm not gnarly or socially awkward; I'm actually educated and well-rounded and have been a fan of the series since childhood], I have spoken to no fans who feel "on the outside." In fact, the creative team was very talkative at the PaleyFest in Los Angeles. "The X-Files" has ALWAYS enjoyed "keeping us guessing" and operating under a veil of secrecy. It creates in the viewer a feeling of being a PART of the story -- quite the opposite of your insinuations, your projecting upon fans how you personally feel on the situation -- of uncovering the mystery along with our heroes.

As an attendee of PaleyFest, I found everyone on the panel to be incredibly genuine, sincere, and floored by the palpable excitement in the room. They showed us the unreleased theatrical trailer twice and alluded to as much as they could without giving away the plot -- and why ON EARTH would I pay over $10 to see something I already know all about? I want different reports on what the plot contains. I want rumours that deviate vastly from one another. In that sense, we all form our own conjectures and arrive at the theatre unable to contain our excitement at what we actually receive. It is akin to shaking wrapped gifts under the tree, attempting to discern the contents and being thrilled on Christmas morning when it is delightfully unexpected. ;-)

Reply
0 0 / 0
y n

Leonard
March 27, 2008 at 11:55

Ok Josh....allow me to share an opinion...

FYI not all fans of the X-Files are limited to only "members of the PTA" or so-called "half-retarded teenagers". In general, the existing fans range anywhere from teens all the way up to grandparents of all levels of intelligence.

Now, as any fan of the X-Files is well aware...part of the fun of the show was the mystery and guesswork behind all of the episodes up to and including the first feature, Fight The Future. It is no surprise that Chris Carter and everyone else involved in the new film are playing games and doing their part to keep the fans guessing. Many of these fans would express outcries of anger and/or disapointment if they handed us the entire plot 6 months before the release of the film. A vast majority are wholeheartedly making the effort to stay "spoiler free" to preserve the surprise aspect of coming into the feature not knowing what to expect. Let us not forget that Fox and CC are very well aware of this fact. It's a lot of what made the series successful in the first place. This is a show dedicated to mystery, paranormal activity, and the unexplained. Rarely has anything in the X-files been put to the audience in a direct, clear, or forthcoming manner. I don't feel at all that we have been lied to. In case you missed it...it's all a part of the excitement and the legacy of the series!

CC and Fox are doing the correct thing to keep old fans happy, and bring the excitement to a new audience. And let's think about this for a second...how many movies would any of us go to that are supposed to be suspenseful...if we knew what to expect?

Reply
0 0 / 0
y n

Tanya
March 26, 2008 at 11:55

FYI I thought FOX is distributing the film not Sony Pictures.

And I'm glad CC and Co. aren't letting the cat out of the bag just yet. It's a refreshing change from the norm. As a huge fan I don't feel lied to at all, I find the misinformation and misdirection amusing and just gets me even more excited for the film.

Reply
0 0 / 0
y n

JoshT
March 25, 2008 at 23:43

Ruth: I think I've just gone cross-eyed.

Reply
0 0 / 0
y n

Ruth
March 25, 2008 at 23:42

It's a good thing that you don't care. If you don't care and the fanGIRLS don't care we can all hope that the fanboys won't care either in which case we're all happy. Right? Right?

Reply
0 0 / 0
y n

JoshT
March 25, 2008 at 17:35

Blind devotion hath no followers like er... fanboys?

It has nothing to do with being scorned. I could care less, especially when it comes to X-Files.

I do however have a problem with filmmakers intentionally lying to their fans.

And don't tell me they're just trying to keep the plot under wraps. There are plenty of other, less nefarious ways to do it. In fact, there are ways to do it while at the same time interacting with and engaging the devoted fans who you're trying to surprise with your plot. It's been done many times before, X-Files has chosen not to do that.

Reply
0 0 / 0
y n

Ruth
March 25, 2008 at 17:31

Hell hath no fury like a blogger scorned.

Reply

Subscribe to topic comments

Please login or sign up to post reply

Back to X-Files: I Want to Believe (X-Files 2)

X-Files: I Want to Believe (X-Files 2) - Preview

Comment on “X-Files: I Want to Believe (X-Files 2)”

Leave a Reply