The X Files

It would probably take a team of top FBI investigators years to figure out what's going on in writer/producer Chris Carter's big screen expansion of his TV series. The truth may be out there, but it's certainly not in here as agents Mulder and Scully (Duchovny and Anderson) spend two hours running around failing to reveal the conspiracy to cover up the existence of aliens among us. To the neophyte, it will make little sense: there's an Oklahoma-style bombing, gooey extra-terrestrials lurking underground in Texas, enigmatically powerful men plotting in rooms, Landau off his trolley and an awful lot of bees. Money has been spent on massive set-pieces and expensive hardware to remind us we're not watching the box, though those who have never seen the series may be at a loss to fathom the appeal of the Duchovny-Anderson duo.