A sorry ending to a fun ride

We went yesterday to see the X-Files movie. Though I didn't watch the show for its first few seasons, I caught up later and became a fan (at least up to the point where Duchovny left the show). I was hopeful about this new film. The first movie was a muddle, but at least it tried to make sense of the back story, so I enjoyed it more than most.

This new installment, as its subtitle, I Want To Believe, implies, is all about faith. It blends the usual improbable X-Files pseudo-science with touches of the mystic and investigations into many different types of faith. If I read a precis of it, I suspect I would think it would make a movie I would like.

The problem is, it just doesn't work. The relationship between Mulder and Scully is unclear, Duchovny and Anderson have no chemistry on screen, and at almost every point at which we're supposed to feel great emotional portent, I instead felt, "I wish I cared about this."

It's a sad, sorry ending to a series that for several years was quite wonderful. I hope the money I spent for our party to attend it doesn't encourage Carter to make another one. Let it die.