X2: X-Men United *** (out of 4 stars)
Directed By: Bryan Singer Written By: Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter Music By: John Ottman
Professor Charles Xavier: Patrick Stewart Logan/Wolverine: Hugh Jackman Erik Lensherr/Magneto: Ian McKellen Ororo Munroe/Storm: Halle Berry Dr. Jean Grey: Famke Janssen Scott Summers/Cyclops: James Marsden Mystique/Raven Darkholme: Rebecca Romijn-Stamos William Stryker: Brian Cox Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler: Alan Cumming Marie D'Ancanto/Rogue: Anna Paquin Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike: Kelly Hu John Allerdyce/Pyro: Aaron Stanford Bobby Drake/Iceman: Shawn Ashmore
Running Time: 2:13 Rated PG-13 (for sci-fi action/violence, some sexuality and brief language)
Reviewed by: Michael J. Gold
"X2: X-Men United" picks up where the first movie left off. The original cast has returned to reprise their roles and a completely new adventure awaits them. The film opens with a fantastic sequence of a mutant rampaging through The White House and nearly killing the President. Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) sends Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Storm (Halle Berry) off to find and talk to this mutant while he and Cyclops (James Marsden) go to see Magneto (Ian McKellen). Meanwhile, General Stryker (Brian Cox) convinces the President to allow him to enter, detain and question all of the mutants at Professor Xavier's School.
Stryker manages to capture Professor Xavier and Cyclops along with a handful of mutants from the school, however, Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) in disguise as Senator Robert Kelly learns of Magneto's whereabouts and sets about to free him. What she learns in the process is that Stryker is building his own version of Cerebro, a super computer system that can locate any person or mutant, at a secret base.
Director Bryan Singer has created a sleek and stylish film and never retreads any of the ground covered in the first film. Again, he doesn't go into a long explanation of the background and lives of each character, but gives us enough of each of the new characters to bring us up to speed while showing us glimpses into the past of characters from the first film as we continue to travel along with them. Again, the focus of the film seems to be primarily on Wolverine, his search for his past and how William Stryker was involved. Those who are fans of the comic book will see certainly notice elements of particular storylines beginning to develop as well as catch glimpses of X-Men to come.
These are all super heroes from the Marvel comic book universe and like other super heroes created by Stan Lee for Marvel they are all flawed and scarred. One wonders if they take turns laying down on a couch in Professor Xavier's office and telling him about their dreams as well as their childhood. There is a wonderful coming out scene where Iceman explains to his parents that he is a mutant. This scene felt like it might have been lifted directly out of another movie and writers Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter simply scratched out the word gay and replaced it with mutant.
"X2: X-Men United" is a fun ride that doesn't make you think too hard. Fans of the first film will find this adventure even more engaging and fans of the comic will simply be salivating at the events they know will begin to unfold in the next film.
Copyright 2003 by Michael J. Gold
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