| Posted by: Puck Bond at May 9, 2003, 2:53 pm | | Topic: Reviews: X-Men 2 Forum: JoBlo | | X2: X-Men United is a decent sequel, filled with some nice action, good special effects, some cool characters, but a rather thin storyline that meanders along at times. I did enjoy this film to some extent and I am recommending it....and I'm sure X-Men geeks will love it, but there is something about these X-guys that just isn't blowing me away. I really wasn't too impressed with X-Men(2000)-6/10...and although this one is better, there just seems to be something missing. I am not a comic book reader and really know nothing about the X-Men and just go solely by what I see on screen and what my gut tells me. The film starts off with a great opening scene of Nightcrawler, who is played by Alan Cumming, attacking the White House...great teleportation effects and just a rocking scene! He is also the coolest new character we see...funny and sad and just a great character. He also had a part in my favorite scene of the film, during the jet chase through the tornadoes, when he uses his teleportation power to save Rogue...just awesome! Of course once again you have Patrick Stewart as Professor X leader of the X-Men, who has hope in mankind and the situation of mutant acceptance. On the other hand is the not so hopeful Ian McKellan as Magneto...next to Nightcrawler, he was my favorite character in this movie. Here is this tall, whispy, classically trained British actor as a great villian. He just has a wry evil look about him and he's also aided by some of the best lines in the film. His escape from his plastic prison was one of the best scenes in the film. Next to him is Mystique, played by the hot Rebecca Romijn-Stamos...she kicks ass as a shapeshifter and I loved it when she was on screen. Of course you have Hugh Jackman as Wolverine...the coolest character of the X-world and just a treat to watch. When he goes berserk on the special forces team at the mansion...its just great. I also love the way he teases and confronts Cyclops, played by James Marsden. Unfortunately, Cyclops disappears through most of the movie...though the scene at the end where the two of them try to show emotion at the loss of a certain someone had me rolling my eyes a bit. Famke Janssen is also quite good as Jean Grey in a more expanded role...and is part of a stunning escape at the end of the film. Halle Berry does absolutely nothing for me as Storm...to me she is rather wooden and just plain creepy. The younger new X-ers in Iceman and Pyro have cool abilities and I look forward to seeing them in the future. Also I was disappointed in that Rogue played by Anna Paquin really had less of a role this time around. Anyone I'm missing? Anyway the main villian in X2 is Stryker played by the always good Brian Cox, who is using Professor X to wipe out all the mutants(and that pretty much sums up the plot). This whole dynamic of the kid in the wheelchair and the little girl...with Prof. X in 2 Cerebros just didn't work for me at all. Maybe I missed something or whatever, but I just didn't understand why and how it was done. We also have Stryker's silent and deadly secretary of sorts,lol Lady Deathstrike played by Kelly Hu. The fight with her and Wolverine was kickass...and I love when she reveals her nails and Wolvy says "Oh Shit". I think the main problem I'm having with the X-Men and not fully being able to enjoy it as much as most is that there are just too many characters. It's not like they are hard to keep track of, but some are barely given enough screentime to produce fully realized characters. I have heard the complaint that we don't see enough of the superpowers...which is what we all want to see. The problem is with this many different characters we have too many different powers and we only see them a few times for each person. Overall, X2: X-Men United is an enjoyable sequel and an improvement on the original...yet it still has lots of room to improve. There are moments of greatness that are amazing an yet it drags and wonders at other times. It's a fun time at the movies that's for sure but for me I just want a little bit more polish, because it's still rough around the edges. |
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