User Comments:
42 out of 62 people found the following comment useful:-
The budget is bigger, the cast is larger, the story is deeper, the film is better..., 4 May 2003
Author:
MovieAddict2006 from themovieaddict.com
The film begins. We are shown a tour guide leading students and adults
through the White House in Washington, DC. It seems normal enough. A
security guard notices someone straying off the path and asks if he is lost.
The man raises his head, and a tail flicks out from behind him. Before the
security guard can do anything he is down on the ground, alerting all
security in the area of a mutant attack.
The blue creature, known later as Nightcrawler, teleports past dozens of
guards and kicks and whips them with his tail and fists. Finally the action
dies down with the creature being shot (not killed), and we are left to
catch our breaths. Reader, I'll tell you, it took me a few moments to catch
mine.
It sure looks as if "X2" is on the right track for a sequel, and if
anything, it seems better. The budget is obviously bigger as we see the
truly amazing special effects in the beginning of the film, and though the
action never quite again reaches its high-point as in the beginning, it sets
the film up for other non-stop action sequences, just like the James Bond
movies are known for doing.
But that's not all "X-Men 2," or "X2" as the posters abbreviate, is all
about. It has an important human element that adds to the pure, non-stop,
full-blooded action-spectaculars throughout the film. The cast is bigger,
the budget is bigger, the story is bigger, and the action is plentiful.
Teenagers will enjoy the action side, and adults will probably enjoy the
human side to the story. It seamlessly combines both these two
elements/techniques even more than the original film did. I didn't expect to
enjoy this film more than the first, but I must say I did.
It reunites the old cast for a continuation of the struggle for mutants and
humans to live together in the same world.
The film begins with an assassination attempt on the president's life,
carried out by a teleporting mutant. This act upsets the entire world, and
the president is about to begin the mutant-human war predicted by Charles
Xavier (Patrick Stewart) in the first film. In an effort to get to the
bottom of the attack on the president's life, and prevent world-wide war,
Xavier sends out Storm (Halle Berry) and Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) to
search for the teleporting mutant and discover the truth behind the
assassination attempt.
Meanwhile, Logan "Wolverine" (Hugh Jackman) has returned to Xavier's mansion
after searching for any signs of his past. He has found none. He is greeted
by Rogue (Anna Paquin) and her new boyfriend Bobby "Iceman," who was briefly
seen in the first film and is given a deeper character backdrop in this
film.
But soon things start to turn for the worst as an attack on Xavier's mansion
is led by Stryker (Brian Cox), the man behind the assassination attempt, who
wants all mutants to be killed off. He kidnaps Charles Xavier, and reveals
that he wishes for Charles to kill all mutants.
How? By focusing Xavier's psychic powers/telepathy on a particular group of
people, Xavier can actually kill them. So Stryker plans to use his disowned
mutant son (who also has psychic powers) to control Xavier's mind (sort of)
and focus on all the mutants in the world, automatically killing
them.
With this plot in motion, Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) has little time
to free Eric "Magneto," which results in a truly amazing escape sequence
which I will not spoil for you.
Now, in an ironic moment, old enemies must fight together to bring down
Stryker before his plan follows through. But the band of X-Men are far from
solving their problems, as a new mutant, Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) may
stand in their way of defeating Stryker. And Wolverine may also find the key
to his past in this mess.
"X-Men 2," unlike other sequels, improves upon itself. Tragic sequels go to
the dogs when the filmmakers are either too proud to try and surpass the
original, or are too arrogant to even attempt it. "X-Men" was an excellent
comic-book adaptation, in more ways than one, and "X-Men 2" is only better.
It contains more action than "Spider-Man" and its human factor is even more
active than it was in the original, which is ironic, since the original was
praised for having both action and human attributes.
The cast is first-class, but the real scene-stealer, just like in the
original, is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. The Aussie actor disguises his
accent with a rough American one, just like British chap Bob Hoskins did in
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". If the filmmakers want a new James Bond after
Pierce Brosnan, they need look no farther, because though he may not look
the part in this film, Jackman can look very suave and proper (see "Kate and
Leopold"), and is my top choice for the next Bond.
Comic book films are usually hit-or-miss. They're never in between. "X-Men"
was an unexpected hit, but more than that, a good unexpected hit. It wasn't
all hype. It was smart, action-packed and hat a great character side to it.
Like I said before, "X-Men 2" improves upon all this and is the rare sequel
that is better than its predecessor.
I expect "X-Men 2" to break some box office records, and unlike other films,
I can honestly say that it deserves it.
4.5/5 stars -
John Ulmer
Check for other user comments. - I have seen this movie and would like to comment on it
Message Boards Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for X2 (2003)
Recommendations If you like this title, we also recommend... X-Men (2000) Show more recommendations
Add a recommendation
Email this page to a friend 
Update Information
|
company.
Advertise on IMDb.
License our content.