Warning: the following review of "X-Files, The Movie" contains inflammitory content that may be harmful to die hard fans of the X-Files. If you think the X-Files universe resembles the series in any way, you should stop reading now. And there is one spoiler in the last paragraph of this review.

The key to whether or not you enjoyed the movie was, as usual, where your expectations were. If you expected a two hour episode on a different media, than it was probably fine. However, if you were expecting at least one answer to at least one question that was posed by the series, you were bound to be disappointed.

I seem to recall the ads saying that in the movie, "All Will Be Revealed." My ass! If they were talking about Scullys figure, they were only half right (okay, so her back was nice, OK?) On the other hand, if they were talking about The Reason for The Conspiracy, The Secret Government Plot, The Big Nasties, etc., it was A Big Lie. The only new information in the movie had to do with the nature of the Black Oily Nastiness, and that particular pseudo-science was so bad it was inexcusable.

I don't know what was more annoying, the fact that there were no answers to the questions brought up in the TV series, or the fact the scriptwriters seemed to have absolutely no interest in them at all.

However, it was the end that truly took the cake in terms of annoying fans who hoped that some sort of revelation in the movie would be forthcoming. At some point in the movie, the X-files must have been closed (this is always happening in the series but it never seems important, because you know Moulder and Scully are going to go on looking no matter what happens, and no one else in the FBI gives them any major help anyway) but I must have missed it. Anyway, the movie ends with two honchos meeting in Tunis somewhere saying theres big trouble. After a dramatic pause, we learn that the X-Files have been reopened! I cant think of a more impotent conclusion than tapping a meaningless clich from the TV series.

I was expecting some of the best plot hooks and characters from the series to be included in the movie, but unfortunately, what we got was at best mediocre. I hope they do a better job with the second one, but I wont go unless I know they do a better job first

INTrePid