Review of X2 (2003) by Shane B — 21 Sep 2013

X2: X-Men United is not only the best X-Men movie, but may also be one of the best superhero movies out there, at least in my opinion. X2 is one of my favorite comic book films, and is without a doubt my favorite X-Men film. Nearly everything the first film did right, this movie improved upon. Nearly everything the first film did wrong, this film did right.

I like the characters more here, especially Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Wolverine gets much needed development in this movie. We finally get info of how Wolverine became Wolverine and why he lost his memory. We learn that his past is heavily connected to a man named William Striker (Brian Cox), who is one of the main villains of this film.

We also focus more on Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) in this film. We see her powers developing rapidly and she taps into a new power later in the film it seems, which is left open for explanation in the next film. We also get introduced to a new mutant named Nightcrawler Alan Cumming), who I really like. I was never a big fan of Nightcrawler, but I think he was handled well here. I also like his relationship with Storm (Halle Berry), who I actually like a bit more here. I love the make-up effects for him, as well as the effect for when he is teleporting.

We also focus more on Ice Man (Shawn Ashmore) and learn a bit about him. We also get more focus on a mutant named Pyro (Aaron Stanford), who gets probably one of the more interesting developments in the movie.

However there are a couple problems in the movie and they involve two character; Scott (Cyclops) and Professor X Patrick Stewart). Professor X really gets shunned in this film and being used as a pawn which I was sad to see. The first film did not give him much to do either. That is one of the problems that the first movie had that this one did not fix. I get why but I still do not like that. Cyclops (James Marsden) also gets shafted in this film. This one of the few things that the first film did right and this did not. The first X-Men at least gave Cyclops something to do though it was not that much. He, though, he is pretty much shunned entirely. Scott is supposed to be the leader of the X-Men, and he is one of my favorite X-Men. Seeing him get treated the way he does in these movies is a bit aggravating.

The driving factors in this film, other than Wolverine, are definitely the villains. Magneto (Ian McKellen) is back and is as cunning as ever. You also have the new villain William Striker. What is great about this movie is the social commentary. The first film had the social commentary of humans and mutants, but here it is more in the foreground and is brought to its furthest ends through these two villains. On one hand you have Magneto who believes that mutants are the next stage in evolution and that humans are obsolete. On the other hand you have striker who views mutants as a disease that needs to be wiped out. They are two sides of the same coin and they play off each other perfectly. Usually when you have multiple super-villains in one movie the end result is a cluttered mess, but not here. There is no super-villain team-up either like in many superhero films. These two hate each other.

Overall, X2 is a brilliant film and a must see for X-Men fans. Even if you are not a fan of comic book movies I would still recommend that you give this a chance. This is a very intellectual film and feels more than a typical comic book movie.