A Worthy Sequel, Action Makes Up for Flaws in Story

Rating: Null/10 (5 May 2003)

I loved this movie! I give it 8 out of 10. My thoughts (with spoilers but I think you all saw it): First the bad: the storyline was somewhat lacking in several areas. Some things that bugged me: - Cyclops was practically useless again. I might have wept with him if I could relate to his character at all. If they don't develop him in X3 I will probably never care about him at all. - Lady Deathstrike only added one thing to the film. She's never mentioned by name, so the non-comic-geeks will never know her, and she doesn't speak at all if I recall correctly. Her one use in the film, the big fight with Wolvie. A horrendous underuse of her character considering how formidable she is in the comics. Great fight tho. - The scene with Mystique in the tent with Wolverine, in my opinion, added nothing to the film. I am still trying to figure out what that scene has to do with anything, and it's just confusing me more. - The mystery with Jean's powers I felt was not handled well; it left the audience out entirely. Imagine Wolverine thrashing around in bed without being able to see the horrifying images in his dreams, and you begin to see a). what I mean when I say that and b). how I felt we could relate better to her transformation and especially her precognitions. Images of Xavier trapped in the plastic cell, the mutants suffering from the mind bolts, the giant wall of water closing on the ship... all kinds of fun things could be foreshadowed without giving away the whole movie and in the end culminate in the choice that she made. Instead she looks confused and computers fizzle. Then her powers are strong, then they are non-existent. As someone who had forgotten about the Phoenix storyline I had the benefit of seeing this part from an outsider's perspective, and I was confused up to and beyond the moment of her death. Only when they showed the image of Phoenix beneath the water did it make sense to me, but only because I know the comic lore. I just feel this should have been made more accessible. - Offhand, how was there no other way to escape when you have someone on board who can control the weather and another who can make ice? - I would have liked some explanation of the drug Stryker was using to control mutants. - Offhand, if he was controlling Nightcrawler, how did he get ahold of him in the first place, and why didn't he go looking to recover him after the failed assassination? - Apparently nobody cares about Jason Stryker. Maybe if Xavier had said "hey we need to rescue Jason" and Kurt said "I can't teleport him and his chair. It's too big... slugheads!" then at least he'd be given lip service instead of callously left to die. His story is tragic enough as it is. - I got their method of moving Pyro into Magneto's camp, and I picked up on the hints and clues and such, the no-parent-figures thing compared to Bobby, and Magneto sort of turning him to the Dark Side a la Palpatine and such... but one more scene would have been great. A dialogue with Rogue or Bobby, or even Magneto, outlining his inner struggle which eventually led him to look to Magneto for guidance, and especially why he didn't subscribe to Xavier's philosophies, would have lent a lot more to this thread, which otherwise was pretty good anyway. When you consider how many strong points the movie had though, these numerous flaws are minor by contrast. Some good (and VERY GOOD) things: - Nightcrawler was awesome. Dead-on perfect. With Wolverine and "Wheels", Nightcrawler makes the 3rd good character who is almost an exact reproduction of his comic persona. To be fair, the only "flaw" in a lot of the good mutants is their age, which is revised downward to enhance the image of the school, and that's perfectly fine with me. ALL the evil mutants, on the other hand, seem to be spot-on, except for Deathstrike as mentioned above. - Great scenes in this film: Wolvie going nuts on those special ops guys, Nightcrawler's assassination attempt, Magneto escaping from prison with three ball bearings, the Wolvie-Deathstrike fight, Pyro kicking all those cops' butts... really too many to count. - In general the use of Magneto's and Mystique's powers are very clever. If the good guys used their powers half as well as those two, they'd be unstoppable. - Cameos galore: Shadowcat (again), Colossus, Siryn, and so forth. I was disappointed that Beast and Gambit did not appear as promised, but at least Hank McCoy and Remy LeBeau were obliquely referenced. - Good contrasting figures worked into the story. Examples: Iceman with a loving but scared and confused family, paired up with Pyro who appears to have been abandoned by his. Maybe if someone told me what happened to him I could elaborate. Also: Storm and her anger at being discriminated, paired with Nightcrawler who still sees beauty in the world and in humanity. - The scene in Iceman's home lent a lot more weight to the conflict between humans and mutants. Made it a lot more tangible. Also highlighted why Xavier discourages open displays of some mutant powers. Can't wait for this one to hit the discount theater so I can see it again. Heard it made 85 million this weekend. I will be completely un-original and say that this film isn't Citizen Kane but it's a good action film, a good comic-geek film, and will rule the cinemas for exactly 12 days, and then the Matrix will completely swallow it up.