Call it a box office bomb all you want ($17 million and rising!), but I loved the new X-Files movie… both times I saw it. And while that should come as no surprise to anyone who read my recent feature on the year I spent tracking the movie’s mysterious march to theaters, I sure as hell have been shocked by the dismissive, occasionally vicious beating it’s taken from critics. My hometown Houston Chronicle, for example, gave it one star and called it "stupid, lackadaisical and schlocky." My mother, on the other hand, walked into an H-Town multiplex on Wednesday, and walked out calling the movie "wonderful."
So, what’s going on? Are my mother and I just that stupid, lackadaisical and schlocky when it comes to our taste in movies? I’d like to think that’s not true. And there are complimentary, thoughtful reviews from the likes of Roger Ebert, Salon.com’s Stephanie Zacharek, and John Kenneth Muir to reassure me we’re not crazy. More likely, I think this introspective little movie fell victim to a number of traps, some self-inflicted, some not: It came out the week after Batman, for example, and Hitchcock himself would have been hard-pressed to compete with that colossal pile of overstimulation. Chris Carter’s insistence on total secrecy read, in some circles, as code for "this movie is bad so we’re keeping it hidden until the last minute" instead of an attempt to fight internet piracy — and once cynics get it in their mind that something’s bad, they’re often unwilling to change their minds. It was awkwardly marketed as a big blockbuster action flick, which it was most certainly not. And, perhaps most importantly, it wasn’t a summer movie. In October, this thing might have stood a chance.
But love it I do, and shall, and probably always will. I’m also completely obsessed with and haunted by the ooky science on display in the film’s central mystery, and would encourage anyone who thought it was a load of Frankenstein nonsense to go to YouTube and type in "russian dog severed head" — but only before lunch, not after. And here’s my question for you, PopWatchers, in the spirit of Mandi Bierly’s long-ago P-Dubs Confessional on underappreciated movies: Are there any critically reviled movies that you truly, madly, deeply love, even as society is telling you that love is wrong? Shout ‘em out in the comments. Do it for Mulder and Scully. Do it for the truth. And if you’ve also seen and loved the X-Files: I Want To Believe, back me up, people!
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I liked the X-Files movie. As a fan of the show, it worked for me.
I loved the X-Files movie. But releasing it a week after the Dark Knight was a dumb move. This should have been a Fall movie. But don’t be hating on the Dark Knight, that movie is a masterpiece.
I LOVE “Speed Racer”, and the several friends who I saw it with also thought it was great fun. I saw it three times, and I can’t understand why it got such bad reviews and was ignored by most of the population.
Whew – and I thought I was going to be the only one who loved it. I want to believe
I’m a fan of the show and I loved the movie. I definitely didn’t understand all the negative commentary that it received. Hope more people go see it!!
I loved it too! I did have some issues with the plotting but I just enjoyed seeing my favorite fictional characters again that it more than made up for it.
The marketing for it was botched up badly though, I saw the trailer in a theater only once (and I go to the movies A LOT) and I didn’t see any commercials for it until a couple weeks ago. I agree that it would’ve done much better in October. Why they scheduled it for the week after The Dark Knight I’ve no idea.
The closest I’ve come to Whitney’s current feeling was when I saw Office Space in the theater and sang its virtues . . . before it bottomed out with $10 million gross. So there’s always hope that the new X-Files movie will enjoy a second life, that is if you want to believe.
I wanted to believe. I really did.
After reading the Salon review and seeing the first five minutes, I thought “I’m going to love this.”
But I didn’t.
It was too heavy handed (the signature X-Files tune playing over Dubbya’s photo, the dying child at a Catholic hospital named Christian), had clumsy dialogue (Scully and Mulder arguing about darkness), relied too much on coincidence (Mulder and Scully just happened to live in the town where all the case took place and needed a helicopter ride to DC for an FBI briefing as a opposed to, you know, going down the street; Scully happens to research stem cells on Google and finds both a treatment for the child and the villain’s plot; and Scully spots an address out of a row of 10 mailboxes at night that corresponds with a psychic priest’s bible verse to find the villain’s lair); and the Duchovney/Anderson chemistry has fizzled.
When Billy Connelly pleaded Scully to not give up, I was ready to. “The X-Files” just never knew when to stop.
The movie was great, but I think a lot of people wanted the episode where the gross creepy monster plays a central role. What we got (which is fine with me) was the episode where the relationship between Mulder and Scully plays a central role and the rest of the plot acts like a mirror and accentuates the relationship issues. In a series, I think you can a have a mix of all these types of episodes and people love all of them, but I guess with a movie, more people were expecting either the conspiracy or monster episodes rather than the more character development stuff. This movie made me realise how much I missed Mulder and Scully. I did love it.
I didn’t watch the X-Files while it was on, but my husband was an X-Phile and purchased the mammoth DVD boxed set. We spent like 2 months doing nothing at night but watching the show, and I am now a certfiable crazy fan. I loved the movie. It was a bummer to see it not embraced by people, but CC and co said they were making it for the fans, and if the fans were happy, they were happy. It was total SUICIDE opening it the week after TDK. I don’t think anyone forsaw that kind of box office prowess, though. I feel like I should go see it again, not only because I loved it, but to give it an extra $9!
Having just seen The X-Files: IWTB for the third time, I’m so glad to see other people loving it too. I’ve seen it so much because I have so many friends who are also fans and they all want to see it with me. I’ll probably see it a couple more times in the theaters. Every person I’ve seen it with has loved it. I thought it was even better the second time around. Chris Carter was completely true to the characters and the series.
It would’ve definitely worked better in the fall. Going up against ‘The Dark Knight’ didn’t help anything either.
thanks for this whitney. i loved IWTB too and completely agree with the “traps” you mentioned that hurt the movie. as i watch early episodes from the series, i am impressed with how chris carter and frank spotnitz really went back to their roots. lots of episodes were more about humans then the “monster”. hopefully some fox exec will be a big believer and will make the alien invasion blockbuster in XF3. don’t give up.
(also in the comments someone said DD and GA’s chemistry had fizzled?? WHAT?!!)
I would have liked this film more had it been more of a classic, stand alone X-Files episode and not ‘CSI’. I didn’t think they did a very good job setting up the characters for those who weren’t fans, and those (like me) who haven’t seen the show in years. And the sidestory with the sick kid was just distracting.
Young Sherlock Holmes!!!! (Check it out sometime… it’s the movie Chris Coloumbus stole the whole Harry Potter vibe from). I friggin loved that movie to death and people talk about it like it was a stain on the history of movies.
i believe rat race got beat up by critics. me? i laughed so hard, i ended up seeing it 5 times. in the theater.
wait… maybe i shouldn’t be admitting this…
I love Blade Runner, and there’ve been a few critics who said it sucked.
The Sam J Jones version of Flash Gordon has been panned by pretty much all critics, but I’ve sat through the movie a few dozen times. It’s a personal favorite.
Thank you Whitney!!! After I saw the movie and loved it, I went searching around to see if other people felt the same way. Thanks for making me feel like I’m not alone!!
)
Dan – Young Sherlock Holmes will always be one of my favorite movies. I don’t understand the hate either. As a kid I probably watched it 25 times. Love it. From the Temple of Doom like scenes, to the stained glass knight, to the attacking cupcakes!
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy–I loved it, absolutely and totally. Everything about it made me laugh. And it was one of EW’s Lisa S’s 10 worst movies of that year, if I remember rightly. So…there you go.
It really was a very good movie. I think people were just shocked it wasn’t what they expected. I loved it. I’ve seen it twice and I’m going to see it again.
Thank you so much for this commentary! All the pitfalls that you mentioned have really done a number on this wonderful little movie. How I wish we could turn back the clock and have Fox decide to open this film in October like you say. It would have been seen by far more people that got too caught up in the Batman-saturated “big” movie summer and possibly been reviewed for what it was rather than what it wasn’t. I’ve seen it several times and will probably go again before the week is through. It keeps unraveling deeper mysteries than I thought possible.
And I’m totally rooting for the 2012 invasion movie!!!
We have to get online buzz going for a third flick, petitions etc. Make sure they know it won’t be a waste of money.
Forget Obama or McCain…
Mulder & Scully 2008/2012
I completely agree that the movie was already screwed by its release date. It was definitely more of a spring/fall movie, not a late july blockbuster. I quite enjoyed it myself. It was great to spend some time with Mulder and Scully. Without them, there would be no Bones/Booth…and without the X-Files, there would be no Lost, in my opinion.
I completley agree with everything you said Whitney! While this movie didn’t deal with aliens or gov’t conspiracies it went back to what the series was really about; faith, courage, never giving up, hope, and the strength of the Mulder and Scully relationship. In a summer dominated with superheroes it’s unfortunate that more people don’t see that Mulder and Scully are just as heroic, even if they can’t fly.
Also thank you Whitney for your great article- too bad it couldn’t have been the cover story!
On the other hand, I’ve also read that exit polls from the moviegoers themselves were largely negative. I imagine most of those are X-files fans, so your point doesn’t stand.
I’m a HUGE fan and I loved the movie. I LOVED IT.
STARSHIP TROOPERS – completely misunderstood movie with a message that conformity and facism is bad. When it was released it was called pro-fascist by critics too stupid to see the irony. And amazing F/X and creature work to boot, with thrilling battle scenes. Regardless of it’s failure at the box office, it has gained a huge following on DVD, and is now a modern cult classic. Released tomorrow on Blu-Ray, and I am excited for it in Hi-Def! Stay away from the direct to video sequels though.
I loved the movie. Loved the relationship story, loved how Scully was using extreme possibilities to try to save the kid even as she was feeling threatened by Mulder’s return to using extreme possibilities to find the missing girl. Loved it. Will see it again and again.
Pretty much every slasher and sci-fi movie made for the past 30 years. Critics are so heavily biased towards those genres (particularly female critics) I never even bother to read the reviews for them anymore.
I liked the movie, but only when I thought about it as a sub-par episode. It didn’t live up to what I expected in the TV series, but it was the same quality as the previous film. Did anyone else hate Xzibit’s character? I understand that there needed to be an FBI Skeptic, but he was always naysaying to the point that he needed to stay in the office and follow another lead if he didn’t believe in what was going on in the field. At one point when he pooh-poohed, yet again, the idea of extraordinary phenomena, I blurted out loud in the theater “Oh shut up!” and people laughed seemingly in agreement. And I’m no film snob whose being hypercritical- I loved Exit to Eden (even though I have absolute disdain for that pig Rosy O’Donnell). I know people hated that movie, but I thought it was sexy and hilarious.