Very, very good

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 2003)

There's not a lot I can add to what's been said about "X2", but I did want to kick in my short personal take on the movie. Even though I'm not an effects maven, the variety and sheer visual wonder of the effects in "X2" bowled me over. They wouldn't have been as worth watching, however, if Bryan Singer & co. hadn't balanced them off with effective character sequences as well. Though these aren't necessarily up to the level of those in a good movie for grown-ups, they make the film come closer to capturing the "soap-opera" appeal of the X-Men comic than the first movie did. Superhero movies seem to be steadily improving, so to call this one "the best in the genre" isn't exactly an original tactic. Except maybe for last year's "Spider-Man", though, "X2" is as close to a classic film as the superhero genre has produced.