Movie would have rocked if the head in the box was...
The movie would have been markedly better if when Xzibit opened the box, he didn't find the head of the missing and abducted FBI agent, but rather finds the head of Amanda Peet's character, who at the same time is being intercut still alive and chasing the suspect. Honest to goodness, this is actually where I thought they were going with the scene and was bitterly disappointed to find the actual development so rote and basic. It's just the missing victim's head in the box? Oh geez, how interesting. Amanda Peet's head at least would have introduced some intriguing paranormal element to the film, which the movie extremely and sorely lacked. What if halfway through the film, they now discover there's some insane (non-alien) time traveling abductions and organ snatching? Would have been awesome and at least something to shake up the tedium. All we got was a moderately messed up episode of Law & Order: SVU (with some inexplicable Grey's Anatomy crossover) that for some reason guest starred Mulder and Scully. It sorely lacked that creepy X Files vibe, despite some above average photography and direction. Gillian Anderson was also great, as usual.
The script and plot is the absolute failure of this movie (and also the music, but that's another post). If Carter and Spotnitz wanted the theme of the movie to be about God and faith, why not take a page out of their own past episodes that deal with that? I always found one of the most interesting character traits of Mulder and Scully is that Scully is a practicing Catholic (despite a good scientific skeptic) and that Mulder is an atheist (despite his kooky beliefs about everything else under the sun). Mulder and Scully did not seem to inhabit these aspects of their character previously established. Mulder readily accepts and believes Billy Connolly's character right off the bat. Scully disbelieves. The movie would have been more interesting if this was reversed. We could then have Scully wrestle with the concept that she believes a pedophile psychic and dealing with Mulder's opinionated bluster. Sure, it may be too reminiscent of "Beyond the Sea", but that was one of the best episodes of the series. I wouldn't mind having them mine more out of that dynamic.
Also, if they wanted religious themes, why not go full steam ahead and incorporate the devil somehow? The series didn't shy away from this with episodes like Die Hand Die Verletzt, All Souls, and Signs & Wonders. What we got was a (Russian?) doctor, whose backstory was never even once touched upon (isn't he the true "monster" of the movie?) attempt to save the life of a gay (and transsexual?) victim of sexual abuse by taking some uninteresting inspiration from Frankenstein. Wtf? I'm sure it's been said before, but writing this character as gay is hugely problematic and only perpetuates abuse stereotypes, while not really servicing to the plot in any meaningful way. In any event, what was so special about this guy that they needed to kill multiple women to save his life? Why put all their resources into this? They seem to imply he was just a working class, rural and average guy. Wouldn't this concept have made more sense if the person in question had power and resources? Like a rich, wealthy Russian oligarch?
There's just too many flaws and plot holes in this movie that I could go on frustratingly for pages. Let's just hope the new 6-episode series lives up to the hype and brings us back to the style and tone of yore. I Want To Believe.