Everything you would want in a comic book adaptation

Rating: 7/10 (1 August 2003)

X2: X-MEN UNITED / Starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry and Alan Cumming / Directed by Bryan Singer / Written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter / Rated PG-13 / ***

In the year 2002, the summer blockbuster season opened theaters with Sam Raimi's comic book adaptation of the web-slinging hero SPIDER-MAN and also opened a record-breaking weekend. In the year 2003, Marvel strikes again with the sequel to the popular 2000 film, X2: X-MEN UNITED. After a fun yet ultimately uninspired first installment, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry) Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and many more mutants return for which could quite possibly be the best comic book adaptation yet. The movie gets so many things right that I can't see anyone being disappointed.
The film opens with an impressive action scene, with mutant Nightcrawler attacking both the White House and the President himself (he even looks a little like George W. Bush). We then learn that a military operative known as General William Stryker is planning a secret battle between normal humans and mutants. As Wolverine and others try to protect the school they call home, mutants Storm and Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) look the mysterious Nightcrawler somehow tying into the plot. Professor Xavier must also confront his arch-nemesis, the dangerous yet imprisoned Magneto (Ian McKellan).
The first X-MEN, while usually enjoyable, was merely nothing more than an introduction to the world of mutants, though not really made to tell it's own interesting story. However, all that exposition is thrust aside in X2: X-MEN UNITED. This movie is probably twice as good as the original. It has the pleasure of being a sequel, where character introduction and backstory is irrelevent. This helps the film greatly as we witness spectacular action scenes somewhat lacking in the original. What's probably the movie's greatest strength is that the FUN switch was turned on to full throttle. There are action scenes I have only seen in my dreams. Not only that, they seem to have much more of them here.
Though, maybe, there is still one flaw in this movie that even it's predecessor had possessed: There are a touch too many characters. It doesn't mean that it was difficult to keep track of them all. It wasn't. That there are so many characters the film does not have time to go very deep into them is it's only glaring flaw. Like the first, X2 is still a bit Wolverine centered. I was much delighted that Halle Berry had more screen time than before. I have never read any of the X-Men comics, nor seen the television cartoon series that I fell in love with Storm the first time I saw her on screen. Jean Grey I am also happy got more screen time like she deserves. But like last time, the acting falls to the two greatest performances, veterans Patrick Stewart as Xavier and Ian McKellan as Magneto. They seem to have kept dead on with their characters from the last movie.
Director Bryan Singer also seemed to have grown in touch with the characters. While the first spent time with introducing characters, X2 spends time with character interactions. There's even a little romance between Mystique (Rebecca Romijn Stamos) and Wolverine. The chemistry between experienced mutants Professor Xavier and Magneto in the prison was also great to watch. Though I am left a little cold that the character of Cyclops, played by James Marsden, is almost completely shunned from this movie like Halle Berry was of the last movie. Maybe Singer is just not interested in the character enough to give him more screentime.

There are flaws, yes, but this is probably the best comic book adaptation yet. There is alot of things to absorb and enjoy in this movie, and proved to be a much smarter and better summer action flick than the extremely hyped and deeply flawed THE MATRIX RELOADED. Heck, it's everything you would ever want in both a comic book adaptation and a summer action flick. The film opened with an impressive $85 million in it's first weekend, but was completely forgotten the nearer RELOADED came to hitting theaters. And after seeing both movies twice, I can easily tell you that you will enjoy X2 more. Just have some fun with it.