As a true fan of the series, I was somewhat disappointed with this entry into the franchise. It doesn't bother me that it had nothing really to do with the mythology, no conspiracy, no alien replacements, no Doggett, no Reyes.
What did bother me, however, is that it didn't have much else either.
I honestly went in with a completely open mind, and came out unmoved, from an 'event' that should have moved me.
The script was very flat and lifeless. The acting was stale and uninspired (due to the script no doubt). The plot, long and not punchy enough to deserve who slow it played out. And the climax (and I use the term loosely) was really flat. There were no 'spikes' in this film, when 'spikes' are the reason we watch. If anything, I would have to rate this among the more average episodes of the show. Indeed, it actually felt like an episode that had been blown out to a 2 hour run time. In and of itself, that's not a bad thing, just make the content something worth watching.
The Good: Seeing Mulder and Scully again. Bless their hearts. Seeing the location type across the bottom left hand side of the screen. Ahh nostalgia. Hearing the signature theme for a brief moment. And, the opening scene was quite good, interesting and gripping.
The Bad: It stops right there after that first scene. The reasons for Mulder's return to the FBI are unsound. Mulder and Scully are both wanted by the FBI. Mulder on the run from his sentence to death. I don't believe for a moment that the FBI would drop charges to save one Agent, considering no one in the high positions believed in his work anyway. There were too many nods and winks for the fans. If Carter had maybe have spent less time naming things after previous writers and directors and more time focusing on writing a tight script, things may have been different. The script had too much emphasis on Scully's patient, and not enough emphasis on what was actually happening in the main story. Scully was really whiny. And it annoyed me that she brought up Samantha. Mulder was a little bit weak, and somewhat boring, he did not have the spirit and gusto that he had in the show. It was not scary. It was barely dramatic. It was not engaging, and unfortunately I really never asked the question "what's going to happen next", or how are they going to solve this?" But rather, when will this speed up. It is only my die hard fan-ship of the show that made me not ask myself "When can I go home?" Although, I did have free tickets, so it would have been silly to leave. And the inclusion of Skinner was an obvious fan treat, and completely irrelevant to the plot.
I hate the fact that I didn't like it. It should have been an event. And it wasn't. I'm not disappointed, because I got to see my beloved Mulder and Scully again. But I wasn't impressed.
An unfortunately low 5/10 :(
