X-Men 2: X2 Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)June 16th, 2003
X2 (2003)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Two stars and a half
June 1st, 2003
Comic books are such a hot property now that it was only a matter of time before someone decided on a sequel to "X-Men." The original "X-Men" made comic-book movies a hot property and since then we have been saddled with "Spider-Man," "Daredevil" and a "Blade" sequel, not to mention a full-scale "Hulk" film. "X-Men" had the advantage of looking and feeling like a comic-book come to life, thanks to the extravagant superpowers of its mutant supermen. "X2" is more of the same, but falls short of whatever real value the original film had.
As you recall from the original film, the mutants are discriminated in a society that dislikes anything different. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) has blades in his knuckles, curious to find his roots of which he has no memory of. There's Professor X (Patrick Stewart), the leader of the X-Men who has virtually god-like powers. We have the return of the supervillain Magneto (Ian McKellen), who is being kept in a highly secure glass prison with every intention of escaping. And for those keeping score, there is the telepathic Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), her loving beau, the laser-eyed Cyclops (James Marsden), the teenaged Rogue (Anna Paquin), who has the ability to kill by merely touching someone, the weather-permitting Storm (Halle Berry) and so on. Magneto's trusty sidekick is Mystique (Rebecca Romjin-Stamos), a blue-scaled shapeshifter who has a key line of dialogue relating to mutants that may sum up both movies. There is also some nonsense involving General William Stryker (Brian Cox), a man who dislikes mutants and intends on destroying all of them by brainwashing Professor X (Patrick Stewart), who can communicate and control all of them.
"X2" has enough fireworks and special-effects on display to please every comic-book fan. We see Mystique shape-shifting into any human being (most witty example is when she changes into Stryker); Storm's weather-controlling tactics, usually involving rainstorms and tornado-like effects; Wolverine's climactic fight with Deathstrike, another talon-bearing mutant; the inside of Professor X's mindscapes; and a new mutant named Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), who can teleport from one area to another and fight anyone in his path, includes scores of Secret Service agents.
For pure special-effects and mindless escapism, "X2" works but it falters when introducing too many characters and too many gimmicks. Unless you are an ardent fan of "X-Men" comics and can recollect the original film without hesitation, most of this sequel will come as a mystery to anyone who doesn't know the original characters. Even the tragically wasted Patrick Stewart's X-Man, a hugely titanic presence, is short-shrifted in favor of action galore. Most of these characters possess the most rudimentary exposition so that you may lose track of who they are and what they stand for. Halle Berry's Storm is also left in the rain without benefit of any personality except for those glowing eyes. At least the grand, awesome Ian McKellen transcends his Magneto role through his shrewd wit and expressive gestures - aside from Sean Connery, no other actor makes scenes of incredulity so incredible. Brian Cox, one of the best, most prolific character actors, also transcends his villainous role through his quiet charisma.
"X2" is entertaining and colorful, but it is also overlong and fraught with too much of everything. It is the newest example of sheer overkill in sequels where one presumes more of the same equals a better movie. In this case, it just means more is more of the same.
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