CRITICS CORNER
Reviews By : Skinner and Colliding Mentalities


This is a new feature of The X-Paper. CM and I will be reviewing "Fight The Future", and all of season six's episodes. The system is this:
1 star- poor
2-has its moments
3-good/worth seeing
4-very good
5-potential classic

We need help with the title for this, we are like "Siskel and Ebert". Please if you have any ideas for the title send them to me or CM.

WARNING-SPOILERS. Now on with the reviews.

"Fight The Future"

On Friday, I finally saw "Fight The Future". Did it meet my expectations? Was it worth the wait? Was it a great story? All this will be answered in this column.

First of all, I would say the movie was good. It had good acting, and good direction. Now, all movies have flaws, and "Fight The Future", from a X-File fans perspective had a few. The movie lacked the feeling that have watching it on TV, the feeling that is eerie, and makes you have goosebumps. Also, it lacked the eerie music when something bad will occur, yes it had music, but not the same as in the show.The music plays a big part in the show, and should have been used at different times than it was used at.It didn't seem like "The X-Files" unless Mulder and Scully were on screen. Cancerman was not convincing, and not sinister enough. He had hardly any screen time, which was a big mistake.

Skinner, also had not enough screen time. He was convincing, and should have been included in the story a little more. He was basically just on the panel, I wanted to see him in the field. Now we come to The Lone Gunmen, they basically had cameos, they had absolutely no screen time, other than one or at the most, two scenes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't all the episodes about the alien virus(gue)have had Krycek in them?Think way back. They have. He was an Crucial person missing from the movie, his presence would have made it better, because he fits in with the plot.Landua was not convincing enough as the elder informant, look at Deepthroat, and Mr.X. They did excellent jobs, and were very convincing. Then look at Landau's performance. Don't get me wrong, he was good, but the others were better. The Well Manicured Man was very good in the movie, sinister, and convincing. I just don't get it why he was killed off, big mistake. A very good performance was given by Armin something, the German man.

The aliens were more like the aliens from the "Alien" movies, and the spaceship was more like the one from "Independence Day", or some other sci-fi movies. They lacked originality in those two factors. The conspiracy was well done, but was not as good as the series. Bowman did a good job on "End Game", and a few other conspiracy episodes, but I think Chris Carter should have directed it. Chris Carter has the style for alien/conspiracy episodes, the best in the business. It would have been far better with him in the chair. Another factor was the climate, if it was filmed in Vancouver, the movie would have had the eerie style of the series, but it didn't.The question we must ask ourselves, is the series going to lack the eerie feeling now?The distinctive, excellence in film and television?

The movie answered none,or very little questions from the 5 year series. I think they should have stuck to the storyline about Mulder's sister being abducted, the human cloning, and all the conspiracies in between. They said the movie was the continuation from "The End". It wasn't, the only thing that lead into the movie was the closing of "The X-Files".

Therefore, my verdict on "Fight The Future", would be four stars out of five stars. It was aimed more at non-X-files fans, so therefor didn't answer many questions and didn't go into depth.My opinion may change on the movie since I’m seeing it a second time, I will tell you next week if it has, because usually we miss a lot the first time, and go in with high expectations.Well acted, good affects, and good direction, but needed a little help here and there. It was worth the wait, it didn't reach my expectations, but came very close, and the story(despite a few flaws)was well done.

Four Stars.
By Skinner

FIGHT THE FUTURE...OF THE X-FILES?

It was the single most exhilarating and disappointing moment of my life...when the credits rolled at the end of what had been promised as The Event That No X-Phile Should Miss. I am loyal, of course, this isn't going to be a bad review. I enjoyed the movie, I adored Mulder and Scully....as we all did, I'm sure. But it left me with more questions.

This is true to X-Files form, I know. But couldn't they have at least pretended to show us a glimmer of "The Truth"? The loops and workings of the secret inner government were not explained. In fact, none of the villains seemed quite as dastardly this time around.Watching the men in their suits only led me to one question...what is it that they hope to gain from being colonized by a bunch of bloodthirsty and slimy aliens? Which, in fact, seem to be only a portion of the alien types that have been introduced to us on the show.

But I was pleased by their representation of the black "oiliens", and I liked the tie-in with the bees, in that the aliens seemed to be ready to function as a community, a hive, that was all tied together. Of course, another question comes to mind. If there were so few cases of the black oil mutating...it was a surprise to the inner government men...how did all those bodies get on the ship? Maybe I missed something.

However, I surely didn't miss the fantastic special effects and photography. The scene on the ice, although it's sure to be toted by everyone else too, was my favorite. I was also impressed by the way the camera drew you right into the action. I jumped right out my seat several times.

All in all, it was a good movie. Not great, but good. It was a great move for the show as a whole, and I admire everyone who took part in the movie. (Nicholas Lea, I love you! Krycek should have been there!) I had a fun time, and dissecting the movie is going to be as much fun as watching it was. So, it's like, four stars, or whatever. We're still working on this rating system.

Cm-4 stars