Martin_W

*Contains spoilers for the 1998 film and the show in general*

The main problem with this film, is simply that the creators stabbed themselves in the foot even before writing the script for "I Want To Believe" - by continuing the TV series as long as 3-4 seasons past its expiration date.

To me, the essence of "The X-files" has always been about two things:

1: The mythology surrounding extraterrestrial life, with a dark conspiracy involving the government. A mystery where each episode raises an equal amount of questions as it provides answers.

2: The chemistry between the main characters and their platonic relationship, the way you feel the tension between them but it never goes further.

After the 1998 film and particularly in the last two seasons of the show, the creators pretty much tied the knot around the show's mythology - to the point where it now feels like a closed chapter, unlike the earlier seasons where you were constantly left wondering.

The show's final seasons also finally gave in to a certain group of fans wishes to see Mulder & Scully get romantically involved - something that was yet to be seen around the time line of the 1998 film. The almost-kiss scene in that film created a tension so thick in the theater on that opening night, I have yet to experience anything like it, and I definitely won't in the X-files universe.

Combine these facts with the somewhat low budget of this film and the fact that Chris Carter is directing, and we are left with a decent episode of the show - only longer and wider. People not familiar with the TV series will most likely find this to be a decent thriller, with a seemingly unexplained relationship between the main characters. For fans of the show as myself, the experience is similar - with the exception that the relationship scenes make me acknowledge the theater ceiling like never before, with strong wishes that the last three seasons of the show never happened.

To be quite honest I watched this film only because Leelee Sobieski is so smoking hot - but I was also curious to what this Boll character is all about. From what I known he is almost religiously frowned upon on these forums.

I was not very happy about this piece of work. Strangely some well known and quite decent actors (notably John Rhys-Davies and Jason Statham) was lured into this project - and their performances are pretty much all the quality this film has to offer.

Scripting and directing is, at best - on par with an episode of Xena The Warrior Princess. The editing is even worse, with strangely cut pauses in dialog and music breaks that clearly does not fit in. Special effects are clear-as-day CGI, but that is to be expected from a low budget flick. Also on the technical side I couldn't help to notice that some scene were notably blurry, with poor colors and also strange blurry panning - almost as the direct view recording (or whatever it's called) was used instead of the main camera at some points.

To sum things up, if you decide to watch this despite all the warnings - make sure to have a couple of drinks handy. At least that would help you laugh at some of this, or even better put you to a calm sleep.

When reviewers get their hands on a new blockbuster film i.e the latest summer Bruckheimer production, they often use words like "brainless action", "thin script" etc. In my mind they are wrong, THIS is the true shape of brainless action bound by a thin script.

What makes this second-rate film so horrible, is the EXCESSIVE cliches throughout the entire film. I would expect this kind of crap from a low-budget movie from the 80's, but this is 2002, you should expect better work to be done. Everything is here, from the son-who-learned-martial-arts-from-his-dad-and-eventually-get-his-chance-to-s ave-the-day to the at-first-unfriendly-guy-who-turns-around-and-helps-everybody-in-a-crisis and the evil bad guy who confirms his evil side an extra 59 times, in cased you missed he was a bad guy the first time. There are countless cliches like these, so many I can't even remember half of 'em.

All of this has been done before, so many times, difference being that those kind of cliches are usually better covered up with more trained actors and more intelligent scripting in a "first-rate" film. In this flick the cliches just take over one another, making you lose all believability in the storyline and fall off your chair in laughter.

Also, if you are looking for a cool stunt/martial arts film, look elsewhere. While there are loads of cheap SFX to accompany the cliches (blowing up gas station just when everyone has cleared the area etc etc), even Van Damme's little son (also cast as the son of Van Damme's character in the film) seems to be able to kick more butt than his dad.

R.I.P Jean-Claude.