"It's here." --Father Joe, The X-Files: I Want to Believe Disclosure: I'm a huge fan of the "X-Files" series--a multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, etc. winner. So yes, I'm predisposed to like and even defend the new movie, "The X-Files: I Want to Believe". Roger Ebert liked it very much, though it has been shellacked by a lot of others as being "ho hum" and unworthy of the wait. But almost nobody seems to have hated it.

Well, that's the problem... I liked the new X Files movie. Not loved it, but liked it. It was a reunion of sorts: back to the moody Canadian backdrop, Chris Carter's direction and dialogue, and most of all David Duchovny's "Fox Mulder" and Gillian Anderson's "Dana Scully." There's also an extended cameo of sorts from "Walter 'Skinman' Skinner," (Mitch Pilleggi) their former boss.

Billy Connolly does a great job as a tortured defrocked priest. "Battlestar Galactica's" Callum Keith Rennie is a suitable bad guy and Amanda Peet even manages to rise above the writing of her character a bit.

Without rehashing the plot (I hate it when alleged critics tell you every plot point in their reviews), let's just say what you may have read is true: this movie is made in the tradition of the non-alien conspiracy episodes (see X-Files: Revelations DVD). It has a real "Silence of the Lambs" vibe. Frankly, that sounds cooler than it is in execution.

All that atmosphere is really a backdrop for the tension between Mulder's desire to believe the unbelievable and Scully's crisis with her faith. That's box office poison when you're trying to distract moviegoers from a guy in a black cape beating the crud out of diabolical clown. (If you're a big fan like me you just want to shake show creator and former surfer Chris Carter and say "You had six years and all you came up with is this? Duuuuuuude!") I have to give him props for a pretty funny Bush joke, though. Worth the price of admission.

I have to add that though I really enjoyed seeing the characters and getting involved in the mystery of "I Want to Believe," I couldn't stop myself from thinking "Why don't Mulder and Scully mention the looming alien invasion set for 2012?" I know, I know. Because this isn't about aliens. This is Chris Carter and Fox trying to get non-X-Filers to see the movie--to perhaps "reboot" the franchise for a broader audience. I respect that. I just wish the story were a little creepier, the rating 'R' instead of 'PG-13' and the budget bigger than $30 million.

I hope the movie does well enough worldwide (with DVD sales and rentals, etc. it should do way better than its $30 million budget) for that third and final invasion-themed movie. I want this former cultural phenomenon to go out in a blaze of glory. But if it doesn't, watch the end credits of "I Want to Believe" for what could be a final farewell from Mulder and Scully.

I could go on...but I think you should check it out for yourself. Not a fan, but like a decent mystery? Go. Like romantic tension and relationship stories? Go. Like body parts, mayhem and creepy mad scientists? Go. Like movies with a heart and a brain? Go. Like a cool soundtrack? Go. Sick of special effects & explosions subbing for story? Go. Go to a matinee if you don't want to pay full price. But have a look. Especially if you want a good, moody, creepy mystery. Besides, who knows? Despite yourself, you may want to believe after all.