The return of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in the latest movie inspired by the famous 93’ Tv series has failed to gain the appreciation of the critics.

“The X-Files: I Want to Believe” brings back old memories for the fans of the original series and it could be also an enjoyable movie for those who know nothing about Mulder and Scully, but it isn’t a match for “The Dark Knight”, the movie with which will compete at this weekend box office.

Despite the chemistry that still exists between the characters, it seems like the thin plot is the major drawback of the movie.

Mulder is like the old Mulder and he still can’t let go of the past, Scully has remained the same skeptical scientist, while the action makes some references about past episodes.

Dana Scully is practicing pediatric medicine at a Catholic hospital and Fox Mulder is living in a West Virginia cabin when the FBI approaches them in order to get their help. Agents Dakota Whitney and agent Mosley Drummy seek help from the former FBI agents in order to find a trace in a female’s disappearance. Soon, Mulder and Scully begin to talk to a former Catholic priest and convicted pedophile Father Joe about a series of kidnappings. Unfortunately their can only rely on the priest’s visions.

While the former FBI agents dig deeper into the mystery, they also have to face their own issues, including their relationship and the loss of their baby. Scully also tries to find a cure for a boy who is her patient and has a rare brain disease.

The original “The X-Files” hit the screens in 1993 and rapidly gained an out-of-the-ordinary-devoted audience. More and more fans were attracted to the creepy series portraying constant happenings related to alien visits on Earth and witty detached stories that dealt either with exterminating bugs or grotesque humans who appeared as a result of several generations of inbreeding.

But “The X-Files: I Want To Believe” misses exactly those main attractions. Is just an old good-fashion thriller with little surprises and it lacks the conspiracy theories. And that’s probably why the movie disappointed the movie critics.

Based on 28 reviews, Metacritic.com has compiled a 48 score out of 100, while on RottenTomatoes.com the movie ranked even lower with 33 percent out of 100, based in 104 reviews.

However, “The X-Files: I Want To Believe” is not a bad or a simple movie, as Roger Ebert noted in his review: “what I appreciated about "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" was that it involved actual questions of morality, just as "The Dark Knight" does. It's not simply about good and evil but about choices.”

Though, Brian Lowry from The Variety thinks that overall the movie fails to match the complexity and thrill of the TV show. “If the first "X-Files" movie landed in the midst of the TV show's run and near the height of its popularity, the second -- far more modest in scope and ambition -- comes six years after the program signed off. Both, however, share a common trait: Namely, neither would qualify as a better-than-average episode of the series,” he noted in his review.

Justin Lowe from The Hollywood Reporter thinks the same. “Rather than a creepy supernatural thriller, "X-Files" creator Chris Carter, who directed "I Want to Believe" from a script co-written with producer Frank Spotnitz, spins a second-rate "Silence of the Lambs"-type serial killer mystery. Despite a few evocative early scenes, adequate atmospherics are noticeably lacking until the final reels, when the plot has already descended into implausibility,” Lowe wrote.

In a more harsh review, Kurt Loder from MTV thinks that “The X-Files: I Want To Believe” lacks a real idea of what it wants to be.

“The movie has no real idea what it wants to be, and its confusion is illuminated by one of the most hilarious lines of the year. Attempting to assess what they've learned from this lackadaisical adventure, Mulder says to Scully, "If Father Joe were the Devil, why would he say the opposite of what the Devil would say? Maybe that's the answer." What was the question again?”, Loder noted.

However, Richard Corliss from Time thinks that the fans of the original seriws will enjoy the movie. “The movie has manifold pleasures for the show's fans, as much for the interplay of Mulder and Scully — the soulmates who were afraid to become lovers — as for a story that concentrates on human, not astral, malfeasance. But for the uninitiated, The X Files: I Want to Believe may seem as musty and forbidding as one of those dank secrets that Mulder and Scully were forever digging up from some backyard, or fetid swamp, or their own aching hearts”, Corliss noted.