Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz join forces again in the newest iteration of the X-Files universe as David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprise their roles as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. My greatest fear walking into this movie was that it was merely going to be a two-hour episode where Mulder can say "shit" and get away with it. Also, I went in to the movie knowing absolutely nothing about the storyline and wondering how much this film would delve into the X-Files mythos. What I ended up walking out with was a mixed bag.

I'm not sure exactly how much time is supposed to have elapsed from the end of the last season to the start of this movie, but I got the distinct impression that it was years. As we begin to get reintegrated into the world of the X-Files we find Dana Scully living a normal life, working as a doctor in a hospital. One day she is approached by an FBI agent (played by Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner) asking for the whereabouts of Fox Mulder. The FBI puts a deal on the table forgiving all of Mulder's past transgressions and dropping the charges against him if he would only assist in investigating a case of a missing special agent. Scully takes the offer to Fox and convinces him to trust the Feds in an attempt to get him out of his seclusion.

"I'm done chasing monsters in the dark"

The reason the FBI is interested in bringing back the team of Mulder and Scully is due to the fact that an ex-priest named Joseph Crissman (Billy Connolly) is claiming that he is receiving visions from God in regard to the case. Upon meeting Crissman, we discover that he is also a convicted pedophile... setting the stage for the inevitable doubts to be cast in his direction. After all, how could a disgraced priest who had sex with "37 altar boys" possibly receive forgiveness, let alone visions, from God? From the word "go" we have to wrestle with the fact that there are times that we may not like the people that God forgives.

As the crimes continue to spread and more people get hurt, the legitimacy of Crissman's visions increasingly become questioned and scrutinized. Fox Mulder wants to believe that the disgraced priest is truly having visions, that the suspicions of his complicity in these crimes are false and in the end his belief will be rewarded. As the case progresses, belief and faith are stretched to the breaking point, and Scully's and Mulder's relationship begins to fall apart (yes, the legendary chemistry is still there and played out well).

Crissman: "So you believe in these sorts of things?"

Mulder: "Let's just say I want to believe."

Each of them is caught in a situation where they must wrestle with their doubts as their faith or belief in something is called into question. For example, Scully is confronted with a decision which her hospital would find unethical, and the religious authorities in the administration are dogging her every step. She also has a serious problem with a pedophile receiving help from "God." As the movie unfolds, we are shown the evil of faith and science, and the good of faith and science.

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