The haunting whistles of the theme tune still send a shiver down the spine. The beams of a car’s headlights cut through the pine trees and foggy darkness, as we follow the vehicle slowly crunching down a snow-covered country road. There is a momentary sensation in these opening seconds of The X-Files: I Want To Believe, of being transported back to the early 1990s, when The X-Files was the very pinnacle of television drama. But, unfortunately, these warm nostalgic tingles do not last long.

Scully, now working as a surgeon at a Catholic Hospital, is approached by the FBI to get word to Fox Mulder. A female agent has disappeared and a man has come forward, claiming to have visions of her whereabouts. This psychic, Fr Joe, is also a convicted paedophile, so the Feds understandably are a little hesitant to put their trust in so shady a character. Mulder can’t deny his own curiosity and quickly agrees to investigate… on the condition that Scully accompanies him. Fr Joe’s visions lead them out to a frozen lake where numerous severed body parts are discovered and soon abduction becomes murder becomes something altogether more sinister.

As the film’s full title might suggest, The X-Files: I Want To Believe is about faith, with the spotlight pointed, not into the heavens, but at the Catholic Church. Not only do our protagonists support a child-molesting priest, but Scully clashes with the religious heads of the hospital when a terminally ill patient is refused further treatment. Belief in science, law, redemption and divine intervention are all tested but, ironically, not much is asked of the audience. The filmmakers seem to have lost faith in their own fans. Rarely does the film refer to its long and complex back-story in any real detail, or demand that its audience come prepared.

Perhaps because of worries that the fan base is no longer out there, the plot is almost entirely self-contained – with the occasional fleeting reference to Mulder’s missing sister or the child he and Scully supposedly conceived. It could be argued that the result leaves the movie accessible to a wider audience, but what is certainly true is that the film, as part of The X-Files canon, is largely irrelevant and inconsequential.

Mulder and Scully are now a fairly established couple, which takes the bite out of their many arguments and confrontations. Both seem too eager to patch up their disputes before they threaten the status quo, thus stripping the formula of one of its more enjoyable aspects. Such changes only serve to denude the film of its identity and make it vulnerable to comparison with any number of political mystery thrillers of recent times. Unfortunately, its budget, formulaic structure and still-obvious television roots don’t help it to compare favourably.

Amusingly, when the film starts, both Mulder and Scully have moved on from the X-Files – not to bigger or better things – but both seem content where they are. However, when psychics and abducted agents are waved in their faces they eagerly jump back on board. One can’t help notice how closely this mirrors the careers of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson post-X-Files. Sure, they have both found work, Anderson in a number of fairly well-regarded films, and Duchovny has received plaudits for his new series Californication. But given the chance, both appear only too happy to get back in the saddle one more time, regardless of the quality of the script. The mantra throughout the film is ‘Don’t give up’ but, judging by this outing, they should have quit while they were ahead.

James Marsh