X2
1/2

The first X-Men was a good, but flawed, superhero movie. It was entertaining, but the sheer number of characters made it hard to follow exactly what was going on for a large portion of the running length. If nothing else, X-Men proved that Bryan Singer was entirely capable of making the inevitable sequel great. Now that sequel, the poorly named X2, is here, and the bar has been raised. X2 represents perhaps the best - or at least the most entertaining - superhero film in a very long time.

Part of the reason for X2's success is that all of the major characters have already been introduced through X-Men, and there is only one new major character to deal with. There are other new characters, but they are all kept in the background, and a familiarity with them is unimportant.

X2 begins an undefined amount of time after the events of X-Men. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is still wandering around the Canadian wilderness, but he comes back home very soon, with no new information. When he returns there are several new mutants around the mansion - Rogue (Anna Paquin), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), and Pyro (Aaron Stanford) - along with many young children. Meanwhile, a mutant, Nightcrawler (Alan Cummings), attempts to assasinate the President, and John Ashc - er, General William Stryker (Brian Cox) initiates passes an anti-mutant bill that allows him to kidnap the X-Men's leader, Professor X (Patrick Stewart). In order to free him, the X-Men team up with the newly-escaped Magneto (Ian McKellan) and his sidekick, the shape-shifting Mystique (Rebecca Romjin-Stamos).

The plot is more interesting than in most superhero films, with the good-guys having to team up with the villain. It certainly isn't a new concept, but X2 pulls it off admirably, and it's always interesting to figure out what Magneto is really up to. And, while the film's finale is a bit anti-climactic, it is a nice set-up for the likely third film.

As with any big summer movie, action plays an important part in the proceedings, and X2 has plenty of it. It is consistantly entertaining, with several stand-out scenes. One of which, Nightcrawler's assault on the White House, is sure to go down as one of the most exciting moments of film in 2003. There is also a great scene with Pyro and a group of police officers. The action never fails to impress.

Visually, X2 is a treat. The special effects are excellent, and expertly blended into the surroundings, a la Minority Report. Ocassionally the blue screen work is a little obvious, but it never becomes distracting, and weak moments are few and far between. The makeup is also outstanding, with Nightcrawler being an excellent example, and John Ottman's musical score is impressive.

The acting in a movie like this is largely unimportant, but X2's performances are all strong, with some standing out more than others. Hugh Jackman is gruff and imposing as Wolverine, Brian Cox turns is impressively villainous without ever going over the top, and the pair of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan make for a ham-acting delight. McKellan especially chews up the scenery like there's no tomorrow, but his performance never seems out of place; in fact, he hits all the right notes.

Big-budget blockbusters can be entertaining without things like story, or acting, or intelligent direction. But when a film like X2 handles all of these elements as well as it does, the result is an example of what all summer movies should be - wonderfully entertaining, but with no concessions in intelligence. There are plenty of movies this summer that will compete against X2, but I have a hard time imagining that even one will live up to this. If X3 (the likely name) is as large a step in quality from X2 as X2 was from X-Men, the result could be one of the finest superhero movies ever. Singer just needs to stop adding characters.

© 2003 Matt Noller