Arnold
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoX-Men 2
September 29th 2006 10:36
X-Men 2 (2003)
Well, here's something you don't see everyday. A sequel that far excels the original. After the disappointing 'Daredevil' it was good to see that comic franchises weren’t completely doomed.
The film picks up almost immediately from where the last one left off, following Wolverine's search for his origins. From the beginning, with it's explosive introduction of Nightcrawler, it's clear that this is going to be an interesting and action-packed ride. The film picks up the metaphorical ball and doesn't stop running with it. At all. I was worried that there would be too many characters, what with nearly all the originals returning plus a whole bunch of new mutants, as well as a new non-mutant villain. My fears were completely unfounded though, various subplots and themes intertwine throughout, making the film completely satisfying in terms of character-time and plot development. Even Storm is given something to do without shitting up the rest of the film.
The acting, well, the acting doesn't really come into it does it? Hahaha. No, but seriously, there isn't really any shit performances. Alan Cumming is a lot better than I would've given him credit for in the role of Nightcrawler. My opinion of him shot through the roof on this one. The new younger mutants were all fine, even if Collossus was only featured briefly. Still, it was nice to see him rather than not see him at all. Ian McKellen is underused as Magneto, but was still great nonetheless. Cyclops and the no-name actor who plays him was thankfully relegated to the sideline. Oh, and Rebecca-Romjin Stamos was excellent as Mystique. Her character was probably my least favourite in the first film, but she has all the best lines and bits in 'X-Men 2'.
It's a credit to director Bryan Singer that he managed to pull this off so brilliantly when there was so much going on in the film; so many characters, plot threads, etc, etc. The script is lightyears ahead of it's predecessor.
TRIVIA: There are apparently some cameos from other mutants in the movie, such as Jubilee and Beast. I didn't spot them though, so it's second-hand information. There is a Jubilee in the cast list though so she must be in there somewhere.
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