If the truth really is out there, it's a cold feeling for "X-Files" fans.

The truth is the franchise died six years ago when the final episode aired in 2002. Don't be fooled by the latest offering, "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," it's only a shell of its former self.

I wanted to believe in Chris Carter, the film's director and series creator. I wanted to believe the movie would return the franchise to its former glory and pave the way for a final resolution to the alien invasion mythos. Instead, it's nothing more than a mystery-of-the-week story that feels like an extended episode. Only, instead of having the suspense, the terror and the appeal of the original series, "I Want to Believe" drags on to an anti-climatic ending with little resolution and ham-fisted story telling.

The movie's story picks up six years after the final episode of the series. Former special agent Dana Scully is working as a doctor in a Catholic hospital while her ex-partner, Fox Mulder, has gone into hiding. The FBI is investigating the disappearance of an agent with the help of a former Catholic priest, Father Joe, a convicted pedophile who claims a psychic connection to the missing victim.

Skepticism of Father Joe leads the FBI to seek out Mulder for his beliefs in the paranormal. Mulder's continued guilt over the loss of his sister compels him to join the hunt for the missing agent, even with Scully's protests.

The duo's relationship is strained even more by a young patient Scully is treating. The patient has a rare brain disease that's untreatable by conventional methods. The only option is a series of painful operations with stem cells, which the hospital balks at. Scully refuses to stop believing she can save the child while Mulder refuses to stop believing he can find the missing agent and vindicate Father Joe.

In a sense, the entire movie is a reflection of the title: "I Want to Believe." Both Mulder and Scully want to believe the course of action they are taking is the correct one, despite all opposition. And while it would make a compelling theme for a single hour-long episode, the viewer is hit over the head again and again.

"I Want to Believe" has a few problems, but there's nothing too detrimental to the experience. However, it's greatest strength is its greatest weakness. Many people, including myself, have great expectations of quality for the "X-Files" franchise when it pairs David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson with Carter. Six years after a cliffhanger ending to one of the greatest shows to ever grace television, I expected more from an "X-Files" movie than a 105-minute soul search with commentary on faith in general, which is what "I Want to Believe" supplies.

The acting and direction are both solid and the dialogue is the same quality one could expect from "The X-Files." But the mystery, the suspense and especially the supernatural are all missing. If you replaced Mulder and Scully with different characters, no one could ever tell the movie was intended to be an "X-Files" film. It lacks any of the feeling of the series. Instead, it feels like a fan-fiction piece thrown together at the last minute to satisfy those of us who have clamoring for a sequel. It's a by-the-book noir mystery without the noir or misdirection. Even the famous music theme from the television show has been replaced with an upbeat remix.

Carter wanted to make a movie that was seperate from the mythos so newcomers wouldn't get confused. In fact, the movie has no connection with the series at all with the exception of Mulder and Scully and the cameo appearance of an old character from the show. There is one thing Carter succeeded at doing: he made a movie so bland that only "X-Files" fans would like because of the title and the characters, while somehow alienating many fans of the show who were wanting something with more substance.