But you still need to activate your account.
Sign in or Subscribe to view this content.
“The X-Files: Fight the Future.” Directed by Rob Bowman. Written by Chris Carter. Running Time: 122 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for scenes of intense violence).
In the dark, murky world of “X-Files,” 30 million devoted fans have learned it’s best to trust no one.
They know the truth is out there — somewhere. Like Mulder (David Duchovny), they believe in a coming apocalypse, government cover-ups, the complete annihilation of the human race by an alien order only glimpsed in deepest shadows, yet felt by some at the very core of their shaken souls.
At this, the series’ first feature film, one imagines its fans sitting under dim spotlights while looking suspiciously at their box of popcorn. Has a kernel been fitted with a microchip? Has the butter topping been tainted with an alien pathogen?
Remain calm, X-Philes. Note all exits. Do not talk to the person beside you or make any sudden moves. “The X-Files: Fight the Future” is here.
But in order to fight the future — and to answer at least some of the series’ outstanding mysteries — the film looks not to the future, but deep into the past — 36,998 years ago, to be precise.
As it opens, two prehistoric men are being violently attacked in an icy, North Texas cave by a band of alien creatures. Later, in “Present Day: North Texas,” a young boy falls into that same cave — and is overcome by a black oil that seeps into his skin and threads like snakes up his legs toward his eyes, which turn black and glossy in one of the film’s better special effects.
What does it all mean? Our indefatigable heroes — special agents Mulder and Scully (Gillian Anderson), reassigned to terrorism detail after the termination of the X-Files in the series’ finale, are soon unwittingly on the case after an Oklahoma City-style bombing blows the face off a Dallas office building. Suspecting that the government was behind the bombing, Scully and Mulder — who are forever shouting “Scully!” and “Mulder!” — begin to dig.
To reveal what little they uncover would be unfair, not only because so much of the film’s success depends on its occasional twists and surprises (which can be jaw-dropping), but also because to do so would be to expose the film, and the series, as the — now, hold on — very hoax that it might be.
Indeed, so little is revealed in “Fight the Future,” one wonders if its creator, Chris Carter, has anything to reveal at all. Have five years of buildup really amounted to this: A film that generates few answers, but a slew of intriguing new questions intended to recharge the series (which it will)?
If so, at least it was a smart, thrilling ride.
Grade: B+
Video of the Week
“Spice World.” Directed by Bob Spiers. Written by Kim Fuller. Running Time: 93 minutes. Rated PG: (for vulgarity, brief nudity, language and stupidity).
In “Spice World,” that peculiar film about the peculiar British import known as the Spice Girls, there is a moment when all the girls — Scary, Baby, Posh, Sporty and the newly departed Ginger — declare that they want a makeover. Indeed, they wish to rename themselves.
Since all of the girls look like roughed-up street trade, it seems only natural that they would rename themselves accordingly. To my surprise, Flat-On-Her-Back-Spice, Harlot Spice, Leave-The-Money-On-The-Dresser Spice and Penicillin Spice were names that were never considered, a decision that is reflected in the film’s final grade.
“Spice World” is not a movie. It isn’t even an extended music video, although it does feature some of the group’s popular songs, which are badly lip-synched throughout. Unfortunately, this is a marketing effort gone bad because, after sitting through all of its 93 minutes, one does not so much want to buy Spice Girls merchandise as one wants to start a Spice Girls backlash.
Going into the film, one hopes — at the very least — for high camp, but comes away with nothing more than rubble. To say that “Spice World” has a plot is to give the film an importance that it doesn’t deserve. In its attempt to be compared to the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night,” it not only fails but also comes off smoking of pain-staking desperation. You feel embarrassed for these five women much in the same way you felt embarrassed for George Michael when he was arrested for public indecency at a men’s room in Beverly Hills.
Still, at least he admitted what he did was a crime.
Grade: F
Christopher Smith, a writer and critic who lives in Brewer, reviews
Comments
comments for this post are closed