| X2 (2003) | |
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Rating: 7.4/10 (573,940 votes) Director: Bryan Singer Writer: Zak Penn, David Hayter, Bryan Singer Stars: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry Runtime: 134 min Rated: PG-13 Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller Released: 02 May 2003 |
| Plot: When anti-mutant Colonel William Stryker kidnaps Professor X and attacks his school, the X-Men must ally with their archenemy Magneto to stop him. | |
There are rare examples of a sequel which actually surpasses the original film. In the past, this small club has consisted of Godfather part 2, Empire Strikes Back, and perhaps Austin Powers 2. Well, move over guys, ‘cos X2 is here, and boy is it better than the first! Now, don’t get me wrong, the first film was great. However, it lacked a certain something, and this is it!
Picking up right where we left off on the last film, the story assumes that you have seen the first film, and if you haven’t…well…tough! Opening with an assassination attempt on the US President’s life by a teleporting mutant, the film wastes no time in getting to the meat of the story. A government official known as Stryker uses the assassination to instigate a special taskforce for taking out the ‘mutant menace’. However, it appears that Stryker has a very personal reason for wanting to take out the X-Men, and as he invades the mansion it all begins to come clear. In the meantime, Professor Xavier sends Jean Grey and Storm to find a rogue mutant, possibly the teleporter who tried to kill the prez. Throw in some more juicy Wolverine secrets, and you have a combination for either too many threads, or a fantastic film.
Luckily Singer balances the myriad of plot threads well, and knows exactly how much exposition each one should get, and has got a very definite grasp of action scenes now (the first film being a bit flat action wise). Also, it is worth pointing out that this is not ‘nice’ super-heroes. This is brutal and dark, and one of the main characters (Wolverine) kills a heckuvva lot of people. For this, I say “Thank you!” as in the first film one of the only gripes was that Logan wasn’t feral enough. Here, his berserker rage is in full fury mode.
The cast are all comfortable in their roles now, especially McKellen who is fantastically delightful as Magneto, conveying the splendour and majesty of the greatest of all X Villains ever with such charm and grace, you would believe he was born for the part. Newcomer Alan Cumming is also perfectly cast as Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler, the blue skinned teleporter who kicks off the film with a BAMF. Right from that opening scene, when I heard the teleporting BAMF noise, I felt my heart a flutter! The whole emotion of Kurt, the religious beliefs, the insecurities, the comedy, the fun, the pathos, are all conveyed very convincingly by Cumming. The only let down in acting talent on offer is in the casting of Pyro. The ‘obnoxious teen’ factor is a bit grating at times, and, aside from his one venting of anger scene, he is just plain annoying.
At a running time of a little over 2 hours, not once did I feel bored by the film, and there are plenty of fantastic action scenes (in both senses of the word) to keep even the smallest of minds amused. When a film complements the first film so well and still has you howling for more, you know there is something right. The story leaves plot threads for a few differing sequels (and fans of the comics will be speculating as to the next story), and there are plenty of ‘spot the background mutant’ scenes which the fans will love.
Truly great film, and Singer has proven without a doubt that he understands the X-Men. My only gripe (hey, I’ve been reading the comics for 20 years…I gotta gripe about something) is that Lady Deathstrike was an impostor! She wasn’t the same one from the comic, and I want Mariko!!! Anyway, don’t let the sad meanderings of a rabid comic geek distract you. Go see this film and enjoy it immensely!!
