Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
Mutants. Since the discovery of their existence they have been regarded with fear, suspicion, often hatred. Across the planet, debate rages. Are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain... or simply a new species of humanity fighting for their share of the world? Either way, it is a historical fact: Sharing the world has never been humanity's defining attribute.
—Professor X, X2: X-Men United
The world of mutants is huge, bigger than anyone can ever imagine, but the U.S. government is doing their best Big Brother impression when it comes to dealing without the unknown factor. Even though humans co-exist alongside them, the mutant population is still looked upon as a disease. In essence, they are treated as lepers, the pariahs of society.
The war between humans and mutants has never stopped as long as there are those who can never accept the mutants for what they are. This is the obstacle Charles Xavier and his students have to face each and every day. All they want is acceptance and tolerance, nothing more. And then there is the other faction of mutants lead by Magneto who justifies the humans’ fears towards them. The results from these actions can prove to be deadly, not so much for the human race, but the abhorrent mutant population.
X2: X-Men United continues the saga of a persecuted race that doesn’t exactly fit into society in a normal way. Some have human appearances and can blend in while others are outwardly noticeable and shunned away by their strange, freakish looks. However, it makes no difference how a person looks because society doesn’t want to associate with mutantkind. This is something William Stryker tries to do and does his damnedest to make sure they become extinct, even if he has to manipulate and control mutants to do his dirty work.
The Mystery of the Animal
Wolverine: Who am I?
William Stryker: If you knew the kind of person you used to be, the work we did together. People don't change, Wolverine. You were an animal then and you're an animal now. I just gave you claws.
Amidst the proposed genocide of the mutant population, Wolverine’s mysterious past is also explored, or at least a few answers are brought into the light. Logan was part of the Weapon X experiment headed by Stryker himself. He discovered a way to fuse the metal adamantium to human bone and ol’ Canucklehead was the lab rat. Logan was tested on because of his mutant ability—his healing factor—would enable him to survive the painful process.
People assumed that Wolverine’s claws are a result of the experiment. This isn’t true. Wolverine already had claws; the adamantium just formed metal around his boney protrusions. His healing factor doesn’t only repair any physical damage; it also repairs any traumatic psychological episodes such as the experimentation of the Weapon X project. This is why Logan can’t fully recall what happened to him as his mind has blocked things out; in essence, it was trying to heal a bad wound.
And in true Wolverine fashion, he finally got to unleash his berserker fury as Stryker’s men invaded the school to take all the mutant children. He was going to use them as guinea pigs in his next experiment—casualties of war as he saw it—but not if Wolverine had anything to say about it. In this case, his claws talked for him.
In all honesty, this could have easily been a Wolverine movie and I think it had the makings to be a good solo movie for Hugh Jackman to really flex some muscles. But as intriguing as a good mystery usually brings to the table, there is a bigger picture that unfolds around Wolverine that affects the X-Men, Magneto’s Brotherhood, and every other mutant in the world. This comes from the fact that one of the most powerful telepaths is ready to exterminate them all, and Charles Xavier doesn’t even realize it.
The Death of Mutantkind
Don’t judge a book by its cover when it comes to Charles Xavier. He may be confined to a wheelchair but it doesn’t mean squat when he can easily invade your mind. He is easily a powerful—if not the most powerful— telepath on the planet. And when that power is amplified with the assistance of Cerebro, nothing can stop him. William Stryker is counting on this as he abducts Xavier and uses him to eliminate all of the mutants on the planet. With the help of Jason, Stryker’s own son who is able to project powerful visions into the mind, Xavier has been manipulated into finding all existing mutants and wiping them out.
Jason’s brain also excretes a powerful chemical which his father extracts through a tap that is hooked up to his spine. This chemical allows Stryker to mind control other mutants such as Lady Deathstrike, Nightcrawler, and Cyclops. Stryker doesn’t even care what happens to his son just as long as he is able to get what he wants. To Stryker, his son is dead and doesn’t exist anymore.
Surprisingly, the only salvation for mutantkind comes in the form of Magneto, thanks to the special helmet he wears that blocks Xavier’s probing inside his head. And if Magneto is the only hope for the world, then it’s safe to say that everyone should be wary, especially if he decides to turn the tables around to suit his own agenda.
Magneto: [approaching an incapacitated Xavier] How does it look from there Charles? Still fighting the good fight? From here it looks like they're not playing by your rules. Maybe it's time to play by theirs!
The Mutant Revolution
The X-Men—Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Iceman, and new addition Nightcrawler— have no choice but to join forces with Magneto and Mystique in order to prevent a mutant genocide. However, it is anything but an easy task when the U.S. government is hot on the trail. It also doesn’t help when normal people are fearful of mutants, such as the case of Iceman’s family that leads into a police confrontation. And if that isn’t enough, there is a female bodyguard who strikingly has similar abilities to Wolverine. Lady Deathstrike lives up to her moniker and proves how deadly she really is.
In the end, Xavier and Magneto’s fight for mutant rights will divide even further than before, and it’s going to be a question of whose way will succeed in the end. Are peaceful negotiations and tolerance going to win over aggressive assertion and extremist attitudes? Is it better to work in harmony to achieve one’s end or play the role of terrorist to bully for a just cause? This is the war Xavier and Magneto will always be engaged in with each other, and only one will emerge as the victor.
The Ever Growing Mutant Population
Hugh Jackman got to shine as Wolverine in X2: X-Men United as the main part of the story was his. Wolvie has been pretty tame so far until he finally let it all loose in the X-Mansion against Stryker’s men. All of a sudden people got to witness just how vicious and animalistic Wolverine really is, and Jackman totally excels in this role.
Halle Berry got to do more as Storm as she stepped up to become a leader. Still, Storm has been greatly underused considering she is an extremely powerful mutant. I was hoping for a bit more aggression on her role in this movie but it didn’t really happen.
Famke Janssen is still the beautiful Jean Grey who was experiencing some changes throughout the movie. For longtime comic book fans, it was clear that Phoenix was emerging through Jean’s psyche. Just how it was going to be accomplished was a mystery since the whole Phoenix storyline concerns aliens and outer space. Still, just the prospect of having Phoenix emerge was truly exciting, but alas, it was a teaser to buildup for the next movie.
I’m still not satisfied with how Charles Xavier has been treated in the past two movies. The first movie he was rendered into a coma, and this one he gets abducted. Xavier shouldn’t be treated as a helpless victim who needs to be saved all the time. I’m sure Patrick Stewart would agree. After all this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the friggin’ Starship Enterprise. He needs to do something extraordinary now. Make it so.
Sir Ian McKellan is masterful as Magneto and he plays him with such a powerful presence which is exactly what the character demands. I almost wish he played Dr. Doom in Fantastic Four. He would have been extremely intimidating in that role. And McKellan gets the best parts in the movie. His escape from his plastic prison was pure delight and reminiscent of when Magneto pulled out the adamantium from Wolverine’s body in the comic books (don’t ask me how it was done… it’s comic book physics).
Alan Cummings was brilliant as Nightcrawler. There was such a vulnerability to Kurt Wagner that made him endearing. The makeup job on Nightcrawler equals that of Rebecca Romjin-Stamos’ Mystique who, by the way, was again sexy in her role. I’m sure she was glad to actually play herself without all that makeup for that bar scene.
There were lots of Easter eggs thrown in the movie especially the scene where Mystique accesses Stryker’s files. I’m sure fanboys were frame freezing this part to read the list of names that were scrolling through… names such as Allison Blaire (Dazzler), Jamie Madrox (the Multiple Man); Xi'an Coy Mahn (Karma), Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch), and so on. Even Franklin Richards (Reed and Sue Richards’ son of the Fantastic Four fame) was listed. It was also nice to see Colossus get some brief screen time, and I mean brief, but it was a fanboy moment.
X2: X-Men United continued what was started with X-Men and made the story into something that everyone could understand… the alienation and persecution society places upon those who are not like them. It has been a common theme throughout the ages, something that humankind is still working on to this day. It’s amazing how the subject is easier to grasp when mutants are involved.
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