The Fractal Hall Journal

Before we carry on, I have to admit something. Of all the films that came out in 2007, the one I liked most by a fair distance was Transformers. I must have watched it half a dozen times since getting the DVD. The last time I watched a film this much was Terminator 2 and I was 12. And I’m pretty sure I can argue that it’s objectively a better film than, say, Ghost Rider (which I also kind of liked), although some might say that’s a bit like arguing that punching myself in the stomach is objectively better than punching myself in the cock.

I’m having trouble recalling what my point is.

Wait, what I mean is that my subjective opinion of Transformers is utterly useless to anyone, because it’s a film most consider to be utterly crap that I don’t even have to convince myself I like. Star Wars die-hards may have to convince themselves to like any of the prequel trilogy, but I don’t even have to do that. I think it’s fair to say that Hasbro’s early-age indoctrination systems are awesome and terrible in their power.

I bring this up because what you need to understand is that I know what I’m like. There are things that even I don’t trust my own opinion on. Transformers is one of them. The X-Files, despite the months-long Nostalgia Trip, is not.

And I honestly think that the new X-Files film is objectively a very good film.

Look, I know what bad X-Files episodes are like. I’ve sat through every single one of them. I know the ones where continuity is too dense, where the writers get all strung out on how fucking deep and meaningful they are, where Burt Reynolds turns up and acts like a twat. This is not a bad episode.

Problem One, perhaps, appears here. Because it is very much an episode in an ongoing story. That’s not to say it’s impossible to follow if you’re not familiar with the show, as they tell you everything you need to know and avoid any mention of the unimaginably tangled backstory. It’s not even that it looks like a tv show- they may have not had a big budget, but it doesn’t look any cheaper than, say, Gone Baby Gone. In fact, I’d say the look of the film holds up very well next to your typical serial killer/cop drama film, as that’s more obviously the vibe Chris Carter was aiming for rather than the Independence Day stylings of the first X-Files film. No, if it fails anywhere it’s in not giving new viewers, or lapsed viewers, a reason to root for Mulder and Scully.

That’s probably the wrong way of putting it. In an average adventure movie (again, like the first one), you don’t really need to know anything more than X is a bad guy, Y and Z are good guys, you can tell because Y and Z are all funny, cool and attractive and X is shooting at them. You hop on the rollercoaster, things blow up real pretty, and by the end Z has won, X is dead and Y has sacrificed themselves heroically. But, even though theres a set of horrible baddies in I Want To Believe, that’s not what the film’s about. The film’s about Scully, how she relates to Mulder, how her life has irrevocably changed over the past six years, the kind of life she wants to lead, and all the things she’s lost and sacrifices she’s made. Most importantly, it’s about her faith; religious faith, sure, but also faith in Mulder and faith in herself.

And that’s the problem. I think most people want to see her and Mulder decapitating werewolves and shootin’ down UFOs and super soldiers. I think that’s what most people went in to the cinema expecting to see. But that just isn’t the story Carter wanted to tell. That’s where the familiarity with the whole arc of the previous 9 series comes in handy, and that’s what has doomed this film. I’ve got a reason to root for Scully. I don’t necessarily think that anyone coming into the film cold does, or rather I think that because they’re expectations are not being met, they don’t give the story a chance.

Scully’s always been the main character, really. I mean, it’s great to see Mulder again, but he’s essentially a manchild who can’t ever get beyond an obsession with The Truth. The show’s really about Scully’s life, and how she deals with the drama caused by an obsessive who can’t let dangerous weirdness go.

Where the film is different from the series is how dark it gets, and I don’t mean in terms of gore (there are far gorier episodes) but rather in theme. Billy Connolly (who isn’t that bad, thank fuck) plays a paedophile who may be psychic, and the film doesn’t ever shy away from the revulsion the characters feel for relying on such a man. In fact, the way that [spoiler] Mulder wants to give the man credit towards the end shows how far his obsession with The Truth goes; it’s irrelevant to him what his crimes were, however vile. His insights helped to catch the bad guys, and no matter how unpalatable that truth is, to Mulder the truth trumps everything. I think this is an important take on the character, one they couldn’t really pull off on the show. We’ve always taken it as read that The Truth is the most important thing of all. This film confronts us with a truth that is abhorrent.