Saying this movie is good is an understatement

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2014)

In the year 2000, after being postponed several times, the film "X-Men" was released, gaining generally positive reception and kicking off not only the "X-Men" franchise as a film franchise, but also a new line of 'Marvel Comics' films after the failure of other Marvel films like "Howard the Duck". Three years later, the sequel, "X2: X-Men Unite" was released and was once again greeted by general approval. While the original "X-Men" is still a superb film, "X2" expands on the story and characters of the first film to deliver not only a sequel that surpasses its original, but one of the best superhero films ever made.
After a mutant by the name of Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner (Alan Cumming) infiltrates the White House, the fear that more of the humans feel towards the mutants becomes evident. Colonel William Stryker (Brian Cox) uses this attack as an excuse for his plan to wipe out the mutant population once and for all. At the same time, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) searches for the truth about his past, which is also connected to Colonel Stryker.
The film has numerous subplots and set-ups that in most movies would cause it to drag or lose focus, but with this film it succeeds. The subplots are interesting and give the audience a better look at some of the characters, and everything that the movie sets up is paid off to a satisfactory level.
The best subplots of the movie that were done the best and were the most interesting, to me, were the two romances. The relationship between Rogue (Anna Paquin) and Bobby (Shawn Ashmore) is believable, not just because of the chemistry between the two, but because of the problems that they have. Both want to be closer, but Rogue's powers make it hard for them to have a normal relationship. The love triangle between Wolverine, Jean (Famkee Janssen), and Cyclops (James Marsden) is also believable, and the kind of love triangle I would like to see in other movies. Jean obviously likes both Wolverine and Cyclops and they both like her, but Jean can only choose one of them, which is something I would like to see done more.
Overall, though, the best part of the whole movie was Wolverine and the discovery of his back story. For most of the movie, all we get are sudden flashbacks which provides us with enough details to get us interested, but not enough to give it away. Along with the flashbacks, we have Stryker telling Wolverine he was in charge of the project that turned Wolverine into the mutant he is. While the film does not dwell too much into Wolverine's back story, we learn that while Wolverine saw it as a curse, it might be what betters him as Stryker says Wolverine was just an animal that he provided claws.
"X2" recaptures what made "X-Men" so good and improves upon it. While the film contains many subplots and set-ups that would usually bog a movie like this down, it succeeds and provides one of the best superhero films ever made. The story is interesting, the characters are well written and earn your investment, and even with all of the characters time is given to each one. "X2" succeeds on multiple levels of film making and story telling that does not disappoint.