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In this sequel to the successful 2000 release of X-Men, the mutants are faced once again with a society that mistrusts them. Of course, the fact that some mutants are attacking humans does not help them. In their fight for survival, the X-Men will have to face many opponents: politicians, police officers, and even other mutants. Director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, Apt Pupil) is back in full force after a three-year absence. With X2, he delivers another very entertaining movie packed with special effects. At 133 minutes – almost 30 minutes more than the previous instalment of the series – it easily could've felt like an eternity, but Singer masterfully orchestrated the pace of this movie. The action sequences are well spaced apart, there is a good amount of comic relief, with just a dash of drama and romance. The story (Michael Dougherty, David Hayter, Zak Penn, and Bryan Singer) isn't the greatest strength of this movie, but we should never expect too much from a movie based on a comic book (or may be we should, but we'd often be disappointed). The plot is typical of the "superhero" genre: the good guys must fight the bad guys to save the world (or in this case, the mutant world). However, there are still a few plot twists here and there that make the movie enjoyable and Daniel P. Harris did a pretty good job at transforming the story into a screenplay. By the way, despite all the promotional material out there, this movie is called X2, not "X-Men United". When in doubt, check out the Internet Movie Database. Most of the actors' performances are fairly good, but I was particularly impressed with Hugh Jackman's performance as Logan/Wolverine. Jackman (Erskineville Kings, Kate & Leopold, Swordfish) benefits from playing one the better-developed characters. However, my favourite character is "Dr. Jean Grey" (no, that's not the naked blue chick), played by Famke Janssen (GoldenEye, Made, Rounders), both because the character plays a more important part than in the first movie and because she's just captivating on the screen. Of course, both Patrick Stewart (Excalibur, Lady Jane, "Star Trek: The Next Generation") and Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Richard III) deliver good performances as Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto, but their characters don't ask too much of them. Alan Cumming (Emma, Titus, Urbania) obviously had a lot of fun playing Nightcrawler, one of the new characters of the movie. Cumming usually plays sleazy characters, so it was interesting to see him in this unusual role, although I doubt it will do much for his career. But the real strength of the movie is – of course – the special effects. They are simply astonishing and flawless. I was particularly impressed with the scenes with Mystique (yes, the naked blue chick), whose morphing scenes are pure eye candy. Overall, I think that X2 is a good summer flick and it doesn't pretend to be anything other than that. It's not the kind of movie I would buy (despite the special effects), but I would watch it again on TV for sure. Reviewed on May 18, 2003 |
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