X2: X-Men United
It had the makings of something spectacular: a solid story idea, a hefty line up of actors (a few of them Academy Award winning, if that means a thing), a bigger budget, and a longer running time.
So, what happened?
Don't get me wrong, X2 is not a bad movie by any means. For what it is, it's remarkably well put together, and coherent to boot. However, trying to cram, in some cases, 40 years worth or character story (times 10 plus) into one two-hour film, well, it just seemed a little out of focus.
The first X-Men film had gravitated around, for the most part, Wolverine and Rogue, thickly laying the groundworks of the world they inhabited, the characters that surrounded them, and putting them at the center of the events involved. In the first movie, we saw this mutant earth through those two characters' eyes, and this center is what X2 is missing.
In the sequel, the story is really the precedence, picking up where the first left off, with Magneto (Ian McKellen) in jail, but an even deadlier threat on the rise, as anti-mutant propeganda reaches public consciousness. What's more, when the President is attacked by a blue demon-looking mutant, it gives William Stryker (Brian Cox) - one of the presidency's leading military shadow figures, - enough leverage to begin his war on eliminating mutant kind.
But, as is their lot in life, those pesky mutant kids get in the way.
The story breaks off into multiple fragments, as Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Storm (Halle Berry) leave in search of the mutant that tried to kill the President.
Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) returning from Alaska in a futile search for his past memories, is at center stage with Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Rogue (Anna Paquin), and Pyro (Aaron Stanford) as the Xavier Institute is blanketed with Stryker's assault team (leaving a lot of room for gratuitous character cameos).
Meanwhile, Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Cyclops are visiting Magneto's plastic prison when Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) and more of Stryker's team manage to capture the pair.
And, conducting her own little background check, the persona-shifting Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) uncovers both Strykers plan and the means to get Magneto out of jail.
There's a lot going on in the film that sometimes it's hard to keep track of where everyone is (you forget all about Cyclops for the hour that he doesn't appear on screen), but in some ways this is probably a good thing, inviting repeated viewings which so few films really demand or desire these days. Alas, the characters keep piling on and no one really takes any focus, leaving the viewer a little dazed (which isn't exactly awe). This interpretation of Nightcrawler appears to be a fantastically deep character, full of humour and religous implications, but we scarcely have time to scratch his surface, or anyone elses (as Iceman and Pyro are also punched up from their quite small roles in the first) everyone is pretty much on equal footing in this one (except Cyclops, he really gets the shaft). While the exposition on each of the characters is nice, it's really token and doesn't do much but slow down the film. I'm torn between either a longer, deeper film, or a shorter, more action obsessed version. It really could be either way (maybe a double edit on a DVD would give the viewer a choice between 90-minute Action X2 and 3-hour Drama X2).
I have to admit I was giddy at seeing Wolverine go berzerker on those damn Stryker boys, and Magneto's exit from prison was incredibly well done. The film holds up to scrutiny, there aren't many flaws, but, at the same time, it's either lacking, or excessive. It's really up to the viewer to decide.