The Superhero Movie Has Evolved

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2003)

Well, anyone who had doubts about this franchise after X-Men can thankfully be proved wrong, as Bryan Singer has gone and created the best comic book movie of all time!
X-Men was great, and holds a position of prestige in my DVD collection. However, some have said that it lacks in spectacle. X-Men 2 has spectacle in the bucketload. Right from the explosive opening, which has made Nightcrawler into arguably my favourite X-Man, to the whopper of a climax, action-packed and tragic in equal measures, this movie is certainly going for bigger and better.
Hugh Jackman is every bit as good as Wolverine as he was in part one. I'm sure that by now, most people have forgotten all about the fact that Wolverine is a short, squat feral guy. Hugh Jackman is the only way I can visualise Wolverine now. He really gets to kick ass in this movie, particularly in the much-hyped raid on the mansion. This is a character who keeps on evolving, so it will be interesting to see what is done with him next.
Halle Berry gets a beefed-up role as Storm. This means that, unlike in part one, she has something meaningful to do other than say a bad line to Toad. However, Famke Janssen's Jean Grey impresses more with her touching performance as the telepathic Jean Grey, who is beginning to struggle with her powers, which are developing at a frightening rate. Comic fans will know what this is building toward with X3.
Nightcrawler is a real delight to watch in this film, easily the best new character in the film. The opening has to be seen to believed. Going into the theatre, I was thinking, "So he can teleport, so what?" Man, right from the first BAMF, I was nearly out of my seat cheering, as Nightcrawler teleports all over the place, at a speed that's almost too fast for the audience to keep up with. Alan Cumming is great in the role, going on to give the character a sense of humour as well as a certain degree of naive innocence, once you get over the really strong German accent ("my name ees Kurt Vaaagner" - I wouldn't have it any other way) that is. Also, its good to see that there is a Christian protaganist in a modern blockbuster - it shows that religion hasn't lost all meaning in today's society. Thank God Cumming has signed on for X3!
While Cyclops and Professor X don't have much to do other than appear concerned - they are captured for the best part of the movie, the X-kids get a good portion of time to develop, both in quiet moments (Iceman trying to tell his family he is a mutant) and action scenes (Pyro wrecking havok on the local police force). Sadly, Rogue's role is toned down a bit this time, but I can see that this was necessary.
Once again, Ian McKellan seems to be having a great time playing the nefarious Magneto, this time going all Hannibal Lecter in his little prison cell. Its common knowledge that Magneto escapes from his prison, but how he does has to be seen to be believed - one of the movie's most kick-ass scenes. I was glad to see that Mystique has a bigger role this time round: she also gets to have fun playing both the seductive femme-fatale and a big-time ass-kicker in the final battle.
And what about the real villains? I mentioned Hannibal Lecter before, well Cox's portrayal of Lecter doesn't hold a torch to the sheer evil of William Stryker. This is a truly despicable character, who is so prejudiced and downright nasty that you want him to die in a big way. Learning about what happened to his wife and son makes you pity and despise him respectively. Yuriko Oyama, known as Lady Deathstryke in the comics, is the only new character that disappoints. Sure, she is really cool in her climactic battle with Wolverine, sadly a bit too short, but doesn't really do much until she unveils those killer fingernails. Before that, you'd be forgiven for thinking her power was cracking her knuckles really loudly. However, she is a character you pity in some ways: rather than being a mindless killer, she is just another pawn of Stryker.
Bryan Singer really appears to have picked up his stride with this movie, which follows on perfectly from X-Men. I was glad to see that he avoided the trap fallen into by so many sequels, just repeating the best bits from the original, but making them more extravagant. This movie is certainly more extravagant than part one, but the set-pieces are entirely original, inspired more from the comics than from the original movie. That doesn't mean that the original film is ignored: far from it. This movie links very closely to the events of part one, so you need to see that before seeing this.
It's interesting that this is a movie about evolution, as with its release, Singer has brought about the next evolution in the superhero flick, setting a standard that will be hard to top.