Several years have passed for Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) since the end of the events occuring in the TV series. Mulder is hiding out from the FBI, while Scully is now working in a hospital. They are called back into service though when an agent goes missing, and the only lead they have is from a former priest who claims to be psychic (Billy Connolly).

For those fans who are hoping to see more of Cancerman, aliens and conspiracy theories, they will probably be disappointed. For the rest of us who either can't remember the convolutions of the series, or never really tuned into them in the first place, there is no need to feel lost. Unlike the original X-Files movie, this one is more of a self-contained episode, like early X-Files seasons, before 'The Truth is Out There' episodes monopolised the plot. Not a lot of background knowledge is required to enjoy this movie. Apart from Scully and Mulder the only original character from the X-Files series to appear, mostly as an unnecessary cameo, is Walter Skinner.

It is a satisfying movie, with the only poor performance was from Billy Connolly, who I felt was poorly cast for this movie. There is perhaps more introspection and dealing with personal issues between Scully and Mulder that didn't add value to the plot except to pad it out. I can understand why there have been complaints of anti-Catholic sentiment, as negative extreme stereotypes of priests are portrayed.

I was a little confused by Scully's apparent shift of character also. The series had her starting as off as a skeptic but being more open-minded to the inexplicable growing from her experiences over time. Her ever-present crucifix that she wore, indicated some level of religious belief, which Mulder found paradoxical. In this movie, she seems more close-minded again and almost rampantly aethiest. This is just my own personal view and maybe I am just disecting it too much.

Anyway, its not a bad movie that can be enjoyed both by fans of X-Files and those unfamiliar with it. I give it 3 stars out of 5.