Movie Review – “The X-Files: Fight the Future”

In the summer of 1998, Mulder and Scully came to the big
screen.

Premise

Mulder and Scully continue their investigations into colonization,
while the Consortium realize they have been duped.

Cast, Crew, and Other Info

Complete cast and crew information is available at this IMDB
page
.
Highlights include a story by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz (with
Carter solo on the script), direction by Rob Bowman, musical
score by
Mark Snow, and a cast that included David Duchovny (Fox
Mulder),
Gillian Anderson (Dana Scully), Mitch Pileggi (Walter Skinner),
William B. Davis (Cigarette Smoking Man), John Neville (Well
Manicured
Man), Martin Landau (Alvin Kurtweil), Blythe Danner (Jana
Cassidy),
Terry O’Quinn (Darius Michaud), Armin Mueller-Stahl (Strughold),
Tom
Braidwood (Frohike), Dean Haglund (Langly), and Bruce
Harwood (Byers).

High Point

“Don’t think! Just pick up the phone and make it happen!”

Low Point

The hallway scene. I cringed when I saw it the first time, and
having
recently rewatched the first five seasons, I still can’t see any
previous romantic interest between the two that might lead to
their
actions there. The scene is redeemed somewhat by Scully’s
self-diagnosis, but the “miss-kiss” still feels wrong.

The Scores

This movie is original in several respects. It’s the
only
one I know of that only tells a piece of a story, knowing that the
rest of the story would be told on the small screen. It jumps right
into the plot, with elements of characterization, but depending
mainly
upon familiarity with the television series. It has visuals and
twists I haven’t seen in other movies. Still, it feels very much like
the television series does. I give it 4 out of 6.

The effects were very good. The only one that has
never
looked convincing to me is the hardening of Scully’s breathing
tube.
I give it 5 out of 6.

The story is hard to evaluate. Do I review the movie
as part
of the series, knowing it’s only a piece of the whole? If so, it
scores very highly, as my only complaint was that Scully seemed
more
like a prominant supporting character than a lead. Do I review
the
movie as a stand-alone product, independent of the series, as
my
sister views it? If so, it’ll tank in this category. Everyone I’ve
spoken to who watched the movie without seeing the show
missed or
misunderstood some major aspect of the film. New viewers were
somewhat accomodated, but not catered to, so there are some
elements
that don’t work as well as they could. However, given that this is
being reviewed in a semi-ongoing X-Files theme this
summer,
and that most people reading a review of this movie on a genre
news
website five years after the film’s release are fans of the show,
that’s the lens I’ll view it through. (To be honest, I don’t think I
can evaluate this fairly by any other criteria; I was already
familiar
with the series the first time I saw the movie.) On that scale, I
give
it 5 out of 6.

The acting is very good from the leads. The
secondary
characters are all very talented actors, and they do some nice
work
here. The strength of the show allowed the producers to bring in
some
wonderful people for smaller roles than they’d normally accept. I
give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response is another category that
varies for
fans and non-fans. When theangrymob and I picked out our five favourite sci-fi
movies
, I chose this as #4. I know it’s flawed, and I know
there
are better movies out there, but it was so hard to trim things down
to
a five episode list that I ended up choosing the five movies I feel
like watching most frequently. This movie made the list because
it’s
such a significant piece of the puzzle that spans nine years of
very good television. The people I’ve spoken to who didn’t watch
the
show were generally bored and confused by this movie. (They
were even
confused in ways the filmmakers didn’t intend.) Rating this movie
as
a fan, I give it 5 out of 6.

The production was excellent. The team had been
working
together for four years when this was made. (It was shot in the
summer
between seasons four and five, even though it was set and
released
after season five.) They knew how to work with that cast to get
things done right. Mark Snow’s wonderful score is excellent. (I
tend
to listen to the CD once or twice a month.) The direction is good,
if
a little heavy on the “reacting to something off screen” shots. I
give it 5 out of 6.

The overall score will also vary for fans and non-fans
of the
series. I try to treat the overall score as how strongly I’d
recommend something, and who I’d recommend it to. I’d say that
this
is essential viewing for anyone who watched and enjoyed the first
five
seasons of The X-Files, but it should be passed up
on by
everybody else. Due to this limited group, I give it an overall
score
of 4 out of 6.

In total, The X-Files: Fight The Future receives 33
out of 42.

Additional Notes and Comments

I’ll be back in classes starting on Wednesday of this week, so I
won’t
have time to review seasons six and seven of the series anytime
soon.
(Seasons eight and nine were reviewed an episode at a time,
and will
not be given the complete season reviews unless they are
specifically
requested. Even then, seasons seven and higher won’t be
reviewed
until I can afford to buy them on DVD, so it won’t be for several
months.) Remember, you can always vote for upcoming reviews
by
checking this
list
and then e-mailing this
address
. The requested reviews won’t always be reviewed
next (as
priority goes to new releases, and I’m not always going to watch
a
movie with someone who wants to watch what’s next on the list),
but
they will be given extra attention when I have total freedom to
choose.