X2: X-Men United Review

Director: Bryan Singer

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Ian McKellen

Original release date: May 2, 2003,

Based on the characters created by: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Sequels, the very word brings shudders down most people’s spines, especially when it comes to comic book movies. Sure we've had some great ones like Spider-Man 2 and the Dark Knight, but rewind back to 2003 and we really didn't have any of those great movies, nor did we really have any good sequels of any merit. Sure there is the Wrath of Khan, the Godfather Part II, Aliens, and the Empire Strikes Back, but back in the early 2000’s sequels were most likely a doomed endeavour. Thankfully this movie here does not fall under the negative category, X2: X-Men United is considered by most to be the best film in the X-Men franchise.  The last movie set the stage perfectly for the sequel, and when it was announced that 20^th Century Fox was going to go ahead and make a sequel to X-Men; people were a little bit hesitant. Marvel had already struck gold with the first X-Men film and raked in even more money with the first Spider-Man film, but there was Daredevil (I think it’s good, leave me alone!) which was considered to be a huge failure. So people had no idea what to expect with the sequel to the film that jump-started Marvel’s movie career. Bryan Singer really had his work cut out for him this time around, but I think both Singer and Hayter were able to create a very unique and memorable entry into the X-Men universe which surpassed the first film on almost every level.

Taking place several months after the events of X-Men, X2 finds our Mutant heroes facing a powerful new enemy after an assassination attempt on the President by a Mutant fails. This terrible event is a catalyst for William Stryker (Brian Cox), a military general who plans to wipe Mutants off of the face of the Earth. When Stryker attacks the X-Men’s home and kidnaps many of their students and two members of their team, the X-Men are forced to go on the run.  With the entire world on the hunt for them, the X-Me form an alliance with their enemies, the Brotherhood of Mutants in order to free their friends and stop Stryker before he commits mass genocide.

The film also has a few side-plots throughout the film, such as the story of Jean Grey who has started to lose control of her powers after connecting to Cerebro in the first film. The introduction of my personal favourite Mutant, Kurt Wagner/Night Crawler (Alan Cumming) and the grave decision one Mutant must make when he realizes he might be fighting for the wrong side. All of these side-plots weave seamlessly into the main narrative while setting up for the inevitable final showdown in the third film.

As always Hugh Jackman, Patrick Setwart and Ian McKellen bring their A game to the picture, making it clear that their on-screen persona's have already become second nature to them. However this movie is more about the side characters this time around. We are given a lot of screen development for characters like Storm, Jean Grey and Rogue, with cameos from other mutants such as Piotr Rasputin/Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Syrin, and Shadowcat (who becomes a major player in future films).  Even with the cameo’s many of sub characters get a lot of screen time. Bobby Drake/Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) was more of a cameo than anything else in the first film. In the second outing Singer and crew made the wise choice of furthering developing his character, we also get John Allerdyce/ Pyro (Aaron Stanford). Rebecca Romijn also returns as Mystique, who is given a little more to do this time around. X2 does a more commendable job at showcasing the many uses she has with her powers. However all of these characters are given more development and screen time than Cyclops himself! James Marsden is given even less to work with in this film, as his character is absent for almost 80% of the movie

.

Brian Cox gives a suave yet deliciously evil performance as Stryker. Out of all of the X-Men films I will say that Stryker is the best villain that’s been put on screen for the X-Men to combat. Sure, you can argue that we have Magneto, but he is more of an anti-villain, Stryker is just pure evil and you can’t help but love to hate him. With his character we also get glimpses into Wolverines mysterious past and how Stryker plays a key figure in his amnesia. However Stryker is not alone in his quest to destroy Mutant kind, his dangerous assistant Yuriko Oyama/ Lady Deathstrike played by Kelly Hu plays a very menacing character who comic fans know has a deep relationship with Wolverine. However the film doesn't really delve into their relationship, in fact I am not even sure the two are connected in the film-verse. Deathstrike has hardly any lines and her only purpose in the film is to have a kick-ass fight sequence with Wolverine.

I might be biased but the breakout character in the film for me is Alan Cumming as Night Crawler. Cummings portrayal is spot on! Nightcrawler is a very sympathetic character that has lived a life of ridicule due to his looks and is unfortunately used in one of Strykers many experiments on Mutants. Cumming gives the character a childlike wonder and naiveté, I just wish he had more scenes with Wolverine; their banter is highly amusing and leads to some great dry humour. Nightcrawler is also the main figure head for probably the best opening sequence in any comic book movie. Sure the Joker bank robbery in the Dark Knight was pretty intense, but nothing has ever come as close to the amazing sequence with Nightcrawler in the White House. I wish that Cumming stuck around for the third instalment, apparently he loathed the make-up process and vowed to never play the character again.

In the first film we really got to see how the Mutants viewed the world’s opinions on their existence. This time we get to see a lot of the Human side of the spectrum, from your everyday average family to the Politicians. I find this to be one of the most interesting aspects of the film; I love to see how everyone deals with the existence of these gods like beings that live among us.  Scenes at the Drake Family home are very compelling, which shows us exactly how family members could react when you’re hiding a very secret part of yourself. I am sure that many people can relate to this scene and Bobby Drake’s struggle as he comes to term with what he is and finds the strength to tell his family that he’s proud of being a Mutant.

Of course we get tons of great action set pieces to work with this time around, each X-Men film increases in the insanity of the powers that these characters have. The films finale in Canada really is an intense scene as we get to see the full realization of Stryker’s disgusting plans.  The film plants the seeds for a sequel quite meticulously, setting the stage for one of the most famous arcs in X-Men history.

I give X2 X-Men United a

8/10

It fixes almost everything that was wrong with the first film, delivering a very intelligent and interesting plot that both will satisfy hard core X-Men fans and the casual moviegoer. As I said above, this movie sets the stage for the third film amazingly, however it is up to debate if the finale of the original X-Men Trilogy is any good at all.