Forget about big lizards and destructive comets: If you're looking for a big summer blockbuster with a brain as well as big special effects, look no further than The X-Files. Dark, paranoid and full of intricate plot twists, the most intelligent drama on television translates well to the big screen, with enough conspiracy to satisfy long-time viewers, while still being accessible to those who have never watched the series.

The movie follows the continuing exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who for five years have looked into the FBI's X-Files - unsolved cases involving unexplained and paranormal phenomena.

Mulder, nicknamed "Spooky" by his peers, is the believer. Convinced his sister was abducted by aliens as a child, his quest has been to uncover evidence for the existence of extraterrestrials and the government's conspiracy to hide it. Scully, originally assigned as Mulder's partner to debunk his findings, is a doctor and a skeptic, but over the years has come to believe in him and has become more willing to follow him out on a limb.

The movie opens where the show's season-ending episode left off - the X-Files have been closed, and Mulder and Scully have been put on a more mundane assignment - if, of course, one can call looking for a terrorist's bomb in a federal building mundane. As usual, trouble finds the duo when they check out the building across the street and stumble upon the bomb while seeking no more than a cold drink.

When the FBI director in charge of preventing the bomb from detonating shoos the pair out of the building and fails to do so much as to try to disarm the explosives, Mulder and Scully walk into yet another labyrinthine web of intrigue and conspiracy. As they try to find out why the bomb was allowed to go off, the FBI tries to place the blame on them.

Devout fans will be familiar with the leading figures in the ongoing conspiracy that fuels the plot of the movie as well as the series. Non-fans are given a satisfactory introduction to such nebulous figures as The Syndicate, the mysterious group of conspirators who seem to be working with the aliens, and its central figure - the Cigarette-Smoking Man (William B. Davis) who throughout the duration of the series has taken both a professional and personal interest in holding Mulder back. Another central figure from the series that recurs in the film is the "Black Oil," an alien virus that ,in this story, mutates to a point at which it becomes humanoid.

The X-Files thrives on surprise, and each new plot twist succeeds in throwing the audience for a loop. Like the series (and unlike most summer blockbusters), the film does not hand out information to viewers on a silver platter. In order to comprehend this movie, one must be thinking all the time, and making the same deductions the characters are making, and, as is the case with many X-Files episodes, the film is not neatly tied up at the end.

The X-Files stands out in the crowd of summer movies, not only because of its intelligent plot, but also because of its subtlety.

Director Rob Bowman allows for plenty of extravagant special effects, but is equally adept in establishing mood through the show's usual dramatic lighting and eerie music. The movie also showcases a great deal of sly humor, providing comic relief (to those who get the joke) in some very tense spots.

Subtlety is also the key to the unconventional love story underlying the main plot of The X-Files. Consistent viewers of the series have long debated the platonic versus romantic nature of the very intimate relationship between Mulder and Scully.

While the pair has never so much as kissed on the show, their closeness and dependency on one another is very akin to that of a committed couple. This plot thread continues in the movie, as the pair's bond is strengthened and becomes even more intimate - all the while offering an alternative to the throwaway love stories tossed into most big action pictures.

That's all I'm giving away. I'd ruin everyone's fun if I said much more than this: The X-Files is an excellent film for fans and curiosity seekers alike. Its plot is intricate enough to be continually interesting, yet not so much as to be confusing.

The characters are well-rounded and well-acted - from the central figures of Mulder and Scully right down to several new allies and assailants that populate the film's underground. The aliens are big and scary, and I promise you will walk out more than a little freaked out - just like a good episode of the series.