More than anything, this felt like an extended X-Files TV episode, but neither fitting into a myth arc story or one dealing with the paranormal or a monster of the week. One could argue that the pedophile priest was a monster and his psychic ability helped point in the direction of solving the case, but this could have been a stand alone story without Mulder (David Duchovny) or Scully (Gillian Anderson) involved in it.The dynamic between Scully and Mulder is strained as well, not a good thing for fans of the series or the principals. There's acknowledgment of the loss of Scully's son, who by this time if you go by the end of the series run, would be about six years old. I thought Scully's bonding with the young boy Christian (Marco Niccoli) with Sandhoff disease brought those feelings of lost motherhood to the fore. But there was a huge unforced error in the script when Mulder responded to Scully's statement about his sister abducted by aliens and he responded as if it happened that way. Huge, huge error, and why Chris Carter allowed that to stand is just mind boggling.If the story had to bring back another regular character from the series, I'm glad it was Skinner, but his appearance was almost superfluous and not really necessary to the story line. He did make a key save at one point, but that could have been handled by anyone else. As a fan of the series, I found something to like in just about every show, and I don't think I rated any individual episode below a '7', but unfortunately, that's the highest mark I can give this film. If you're a completist, by all means, see the film. But go in knowing that much of the flavor and dynamic of the original series is not re-established here. Which is a shame, the movie could have been so much more.

First off, I wasn't aware that there were TWO X-files films, I found this DVD in a clearance section at half price books, i didn't look at it very closely obviously to see it was the 2008 film, but had I known anyways, I still would of bought it, so here goes the review;AWFUL. There's no spoilers of scenes or plot in this review, but i felt I would say that it contains spoilers anyways since there are some features of the film that need to be explained.To start, I read the budget and couldn't believe my eyes. This is a joke, not X-files. It's directed at the shallow, stupid American audience that Hollywood has relied on for so long, so if you have a brain, you won't like it. The film was obviously directed at the families of America, and it's themes, plot and dialogue are predictable and often seen on teenage TV shows at best, this movie was made for a theatre release and $$, not to please any X-Files fans.Let me give you the idea of the film; it's more about the relationship of Scully and Mulder, than X-Files. It mostly consists of Mulder begging his mom Scully to let him go out and play (investigate a series of murders), whereas in all of this bloodshed and horror, Scully is more concerned about the rotting state of their marriage. No back story on the killers, no big tasty treat at the end of this sh*t film to make the long, agonizing watch worth it, I feel it was a big scam the whole time. Duchovony is rushing through his lines, visibly bored, and aware of how bad the film is-- but still there because there is a paycheck. Anderson actually does a well job of acting, but her lines and role in the film is written quite badly, so it does her and the film no good. To top it off, some of the story revolves around a character who was a priest and convicted pedophile, though there is nothing in the film that explains the situations pertaining to that, either. It almost seems like the movie is trying to brainwash people into accepting pedophiles and forgiving them. Well, I do not forgive X-Files or Chris Carter, and I hope you do not make the same mistake I have by watching this 36 million dollar piece of trash.

The X files: I want to believe is a very interesting film to watch. It does feature a pretty good mystery, i will give it that. And the acting was good and enjoyable, of course David does well. The execution of the plot is pretty good, even though some scenes do drag a little bit. Some of the images in the film are rather disturbing, I'll just leave it at that, I don't want to give any spoilers away. This film could've been a good bit better I'm not going to lie about that. Even though it could've been better doesn't mean that it's completely not worth watching though. I would say that if you are or were a fan of the X Files television show, then you most likely will not be disappointed with X Files: I want to believe. The ending, when they finally come to a conclusion about the mystery at hand, is pretty well done and satisfying enough, at least it was for me. Overall I have to give this film a 6/10, the rating could've been higher, but some scenes did in fact drag, and the script could have been a little more developed.

There are films driven by a desire to help make sense of things, offer views that penetrate dual opposites and reconcile these disparities, that challenge and open up. Another kind is just the result of habit, process, or of simply there being a product you want to sell.I thought the series was a torpid thing mostly. Captivated us as teens with secretive truth concealed by adults but I dare you to go back now and not find it silly. Not only did we see alien colonists, but all the other things lumped in the paranormal folder had to be simultaneously real: vampires, ghosts, poltergeist, time folding. Were it to be made now, with all the cinematic advances on TV, it would be completely different. Here they took all of that out, all the supernaturally emblematic stuff, there's no alien mythology, no mysterious locales in remote corners, no shady conspiracy that goes all the way up. They gave instead a simple mystery about a disappearance and two viewers trying to surmise their level of belief in a story. Mulder is swept, Scully resists. This is what's been welcomed in comments as "character-driven". It didn't fly with most. We end up with basically a decent TV movie or the equivalent of an above par episode. No reason for it to have been made or seen, other than habit and product.Gillian Anderson never looked more beautiful.