Makes the typical "bigger=better" sequel rule work...

Rating: Null/10 (4 May 2003)

X2 was a vast improvement over the extremely disapointing original. That one merely scratched the surface of the X-Men mythos, while this one finally digs into the meat of it. Marvel is really on a roll with its comic book movies and unlike some of their DC counterparts, celluloid has stayed very faithful to their pen and ink roots.
When basing something on source materal that's existed for years and years its next to impossible to cram all of its splendor into two hours. So I imagine everyone walks away wishing there was something the filmmakers had done better. For me, it's a somewhat trivial list. For starters, tons of editing mistakes and plot holes. Stuff that usually doesn't stick out until a second or third sitting was absolutely glaring. My biggest complaint is how some of the characters are treated. It's very easy to see which ones the writers/director are truly in love with. It's clear that Cyclops and Storm are not some of them. In both films they're completely over looked. While most of the others are allowed a degree of fleshing out, these two are as rigid and flat as when they first appeared on the screen in the early moments of X-Men 1. Even Jean Grey got her own personal demon to face down in this film. Poor Storm... all you do is fly the plane. And Cyclops? Well, I hope he's not your favorite character because he's literally in three scenes.
I also think the script is slighly disrespectufl towards the more established characters. Both Wolverine and Proffessor X have moments where I was groaning, "They'd know better than that!". Xavier is another character who doesn't have much to do this time around. Put Rouge in that category as well. No growth, no real drama. Just a tiny subplot that is quickly forgotten. She was much better in the original. Just too many characters competing for precious screen time.
Praise for making both Magneto and Mystique much more interesting this time. What great, great characters. Mystique and Nightcrawler give the film some of its best moments. There's also that fight between Wolverine and Deathstrike... ooooh-wee! That's all I can say about that.
Bottom line: better action, better special fx. Low on story, high on adrenaline. In the end, I feel it was worth the price of the ticket. You can't say that very much anymore.