Corporate Line: The X-Men have opponents new and old to face this time around. Magneto is back, but there is also a threat to Professor Xavier’s school for mutants led by a human named Stryker, not to mention a vicious woman named Yuriko who has it in for Wolverine.
The Good: Where to start? Well how about with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Of course he is cool as ever and the envy of every guy, especially the ones who have a bone to pick. Besides who wouldn’t want to sit and drink a beer with Wolverine? It’s certain that one day we’ll get a movie with Wolverine as the lone X-Man. But don’t fret as Wolverine gets a chance to kick some serious ass in the sequel.
Speaking of kicking butt, Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) steals the show. His fight sequence early in the film is amazing. It is perhaps the best fight scene from either of the X-Men films. I’d like to see them to try and top that. Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) tries to take a shot at topic Nightcrawler’s presence and comes close. This time around Mystique does more than look sexy, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The new characters are a treat. Iceman and Pyro are cool but underutilized. We can be sure that won’t be the case for X3.
The special effects brought it up a notch for the sequel. From the cool mutant powers on to the amazing fight sequences. I could watch Nightcrawler’s fight sequence over and over again. It’s like the scene in the Matrix where Nero is completely unstoppable and you feel exhilarated. Nightcrawler might not be the coolest mutant in the world, but give me his power any day.
The direction and editing is slick and well paced so it keeps you interested even as the film goes into its second hour. There is no weak middle or the filler we come to expect in most films.
The Bad: You can say there are some weak bits of dialogue. There aren’t the funny barbs thrown by Wolverine. That is really nitpicky consider the film has quite a bit of action. Also one could complain about not getting enough from Iceman but I’m sure there is more to come.
Frankly: X2 is a fantastic sequel. I could throw in all the clichés like X-cellent, X-traordinary, and so on, but I won’t. Okay I had to slip those in. The final word just might say it all, I can’t wait for X3, but before then I’m going to see X2 again.
+ charlie craine
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