The X-Files: Fight the Future Review
by schirmer AT uslink DOT netJune 30th, 1998
THE X-FILES
a review by Josh Schirmer
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* * * * * out of * * * * *
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We've already had our share of summer blockbuster fodder that was never meant to be. Godzilla, the movie that opened in the most theaters EVER in history, is flopping. Deep Impact, in spite of an attempt at a touching storyline, falls short of what was expected. I've even heard negative reviews on the Truman Show -- I find that hard to believe. Nevertheless, we've had a nice, typical summer so far -- where movies designed to be big end up being flops. All we need to make it TRULY summer are about thirty thousand sequels.
Now, I'll admit it -- I'm an avid veiwer of the X-Files television show. Well, maybe avid isn't the word I'm looking for. Maybe "devoted" is more like it. Or "obsessive". Heck, I'm so into the show it's almost unhealthy. Nevertheless, I maintain a remotely active social life and don't usually let me geekiness shine through. But when the X-Files comes to the big screen, let me tell you -- I AM THERE.
Decked out in a sloshed Mulder and Scully tee and a baseball cap that reads "The Truth is Out There", I made it to the first showing of the film on opening day. And although I kept trying to tell myself that I had built myself up for another letdown in the summer movie department, an avid X-Phile is bound to lose himself as soon as the lights dim. I was ready.
Let me tell you, you come out of this movie dazed, Phile or not.
The $60 million film lives up to every expectation I would have dreamed, delivering answers to some of the long-posed questions from the series' run as well as opening up a whole slew of new ones. The special effects are undeniably fantastic (you will actually believe Mulder and Scully are trying to escape the collapsing ice trailing them in the arctic) and the plot is everything you could hope for in a summer movie -- an unfolding mystery, easily flowing, with TONS of action. I got so into it, I ended up locking my hands on the chair handles and tensing up, causing my arms to fall asleep and begin to tingle.
My only small bit of criticism is how they reintroduce the characters for those who haven't seen the show before (y'know, one of those three exsisting people). If you aren't a fan of the show, or don't know who Mulder and Scully are, the creators do their best at trying to let you know who they are and what their personalities are. It's rather spotty, though; if you don't know head from tails in the X-Files universe, the film may be more confusing to you. Still, you'll be able to figure it out, even if it takes you a while, and you will still enjoy the movie.
Critics have been complaining that the film is basically just an extended episode of the show. True, true -- a much BIGGER episode with much BIGGER action, but an episode none the less. But they're forgetting one thing -- the show is constantly on the Top 10 most viewed shows. It's an episode, but people LIKE the episodes. Why ruin what already works?
Fan or not, take a trip to the theater and give The X-Files a try. Who knows? You, too, may find yourself believing that the truth is out there.
-- Josh Schirmer
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