As a rule, movie sequels have a hard time living up to the caliber of the original films they follow. That’s because the originals are not always produced with the idea of a sequel in mind, and as a result the sequels often end up as an afterthought to, or worse, a rehash of the first film. Fortunately, this is not the case for X-Men 2. There are several reasons for this, of course, but the most obvious is the rich lode of source material that the films have to draw upon. That source material is derived from the immensely successful X-Men comic books, which themselves are a constantly ongoing concern. No big surprise, then, that the films have plenty of original ideas to explore.

And that’s exactly what happens in X-Men 2. Freed from the burden of explaining the origins of each character (that was all done in the first film), director Marc Singer can now move on to other areas. This is not to say that the mysterious origins of the mutants are completely ignored in X-Men 2. Wolverine, by far the most popular of all the X-Men and the one with the largest amount of screen time, still struggles with his past. An important subplot of this film is built around that past.

For the most part, however, X-Men 2 explores the unique relationships that exist not only between mutants and humans but also amongst the mutants themselves. In many respects the film is allegorical. As a species, the human race has always been sadly intolerant of the differences amongst us, a fact that the main theme of the film plays heavily upon.

In the first film,X-Men, evolution has taken a great leap forward and endowed certain individuals, the mutants, with fantastic abilities. They are mistrusted and persecuted by the rest of society to the point where some of them form an evil brotherhood. Led by Magneto, master of magnetism, the evil mutants plan to destroy the human race and supplant it with homo superior, a race of mutants.

At the same time, one mutant named Charles Xavier has taken it upon himself to form a school where mutants can be sheltered from the rest of humanity. In time, Xavier hopes that humans and mutants can learn to live together. He realizes that Magneto’s plans can only result in a devastating war between mutants and humans, and he and his X-Men defeat the evil mutants.

Unfortunately, there are those whose fear and mistrust of all mutants blinds them to the benevolence of Xavier and the X-Men. In X-Men 2 the animosity between man and mutant reaches critical mass as General Stryker (Brian Cox), the head of a secret government agency pledged to combat the mutant threat, initiates a war designed to erase all mutants from the face of the Earth.

Having learned the location of Xavier’s school for mutants by torturing the imprisoned Magneto, Stryker launches a commando attack against the facility. Most of the young mutants are captured and imprisoned; a few, led by Wolverine, escape to fight another day.

Eventually, the free mutants contact Storm and Jean Gray, who were off on a mission to investigate an attempted mutant attack upon the President of the United States. They realize that they must join forces with an escaped Magneto to stop Stryker from using a captured Xavier to kill every mutant on Earth. And so the race is on to discover the location of Stryker’s base, rescue Xavier, and save the mutants from extinction.

Along the way, the audience will be treated to lots of action, humor, snazzy special effects, and a whole lot of fun. In many respects, X-Men 2 is a departure from the first film, mainly because instead of dramatic battles between super-powered mutants this film pits the X-Man against all too human foes. To be sure, there is an enthralling clash between Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu), a mutant engineered by Stryker to be superior to Wolverine. For the most part, though, the conflicts in X-Men 2 are usually between Stryker’s soldiers and the X-Men.

All of our favorite characters return in X-Men 2, and there are even a few new ones who join them. To a degree, that’s a weakness for the film, because there are so many interesting characters that there simply isn’t enough time to explore them all. Cyclops, Jean Gray, Iceman, Rogue, and even Halle Berry’s Storm have precious little screen time.

Most of that goes to Hugh Jackman who reprises his role as Wolverine. Jackman brings the character to life with the same authentic portrayal he brought to the first film. Ian Mckellen is again a delight as the evil Magneto, and Patrick Stewart once again shows us why he was the perfect choice to play Professor Xavier. And then there’s Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, a definite screen presence as the evil Mystique despite the fact that she has little dialogue. The reason for this, of course, will be obvious when you see the film.

Two major characters that were omitted from the first film make appearances in X-Men 2. Alan Cumming is intriguing as Nightcrawler, the teleporting mutant with the inhuman appearance. He has quite a bit to do, including a dramatic opening sequence in which he infiltrates the Oval Office to the tune of Mozart’s Requiem. Colossus, another popular character, also appears but only for a very brief appearance. Hu’s Lady Deathstrike is also underutilized, and an interesting opportunity for a contest between her and Mystique is missed.

Overall, fans of the first film and comic book fans especially will be very pleased with X-Men 2. An interesting plot and lots of action move the film along nicely. X-Men 2 is sure to be as big a hit as the first film. As many filmgoers know well, that in itself is a major accomplishment.



Recommended: Yes