Subject: Review: The X-Files (1998)

From: "Yen, Homer" <[email-masked]>
Date: 1 Jul 1998 04:31:51 GMT

Intriguing "X-Files" Reveals More Questions than Answers

"The X-Files: Fight the Future" is the first attempt to leverage the
appeal of the popular television series onto the big screen.
Incorporating elaborate sets, a complex yet intriguing tale that weaves
government cover-ups with deadly viruses and aliens, and the familiar
presence of two determined FBI agents, the result is a quick-paced,
conspiracy-laden movie that is somewhat hokey but enjoyably quirky.

After a supposed act of terrorism that results in incredibly horrific
disaster, our two heroes, FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny)
and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are being pointed at by the finger of
blame.  As an inquiry into their incompetence begins, Mulder is
approached by an eccentric man (Martin Landau) with wild ideas of
conspiracies, cover-ups, and a theory as to why the act of terrorism was
actually an act of our own government.  "The government is secretly
negotiating a planned Armageddon," he urges.  

Skeptical at first but ultimately open to any idea, as wild as they may
be, that would reinforce his personal quest to expose government
cover-ups and to get to the truth,  Mulder begs a tired and defeated
Scully to help him in his pursuit.  Meanwhile, someone has been watching
their every move and is taking steps to make sure that they never find
out the truth. 

As a story about conspiracies, it gives us a nice long list of elements
that keeps the audience involved while allowing the movie to easily
transition from one sequence/location to another.  These include: the
informant with his personal agenda that periodically gives out
questionably reliable information, characters that appear once early on
and then re-appear much later as murky warnings to oncoming danger,
narrow alleyways and clandestine meetings that provide a backdrop where
secrets are learned and business is taken care of, and a smattering of
clues that ultimately guides Mulder and Scully toward the truth.  

Having watched only two or three episodes of the popular tv series, I
can't really comment on whether this is better or worse than the average
episode.  Virtually every person that has appeared in the series does
make a brief appearance.  However, they amount to only cameos and don't
complicate the main focus of the story.  Also, there is a good deal of
exposition on the motivations of our two intrepid agents - for example,
we learn why Mulder has engaged this personal quest of his and why he is
viewed less-than-seriously by his peers.  Meanwhile, we hear why Scully
was assigned as his partner.  These are things that devoted fans already
know, so it is for the benefit of people like me.  Fans will probably
find these sections protracted and boring.

The spirit of the X-Files is geared towards things that are 'not easily
categorized or referenced.'  As such, the story will raise more
questions than reveal answers.  For example, what was the motivation
behind the government perpetuating an obviously self-destructive course
of action?  And, if the conspiracy is global in nature, why are there
only two lone FBI agents trying to solve the whole thing?  Perhaps this
is all part of the mythology of the series.  Regardless of my lack of
viewership and the questions that I had, I thought that overall, the
movie worked in  delivering a witty string of sequences that melded
conspiracy and science-fiction, and I did like the general look and the
atmosphere of secrecy that it projected.

Grade: B