Three out of four

Rating: Null/10 (13 May 2003)

Rule One of successful sequels: reprise the main characters. The noble Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his friend Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the sinister Magneto (Ian McKellan) and his aide Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), and most of the other mutants from the original movie are back with their varied gifts.
Rule Two: introduce some new characters. So this time we have Colonel Stryker (Brian Cox), a human who is as nefarious as any mutant, and some new mutants, including blue-skinned, German-speaking (really!) Kurt Wagner (Alan Cumming) and metal-taloned Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu).

Rule Three: better the effects. While some of the scenery looks obviously artificial, generally the effects are extremely well-done with some great form-changing sequences.
Rule Four: develop the narrative. Ah, there's the rub ..

The pacing of the sequel is better than the original, because we don't have all that scene-setting, but instead more sustained action. But the storyline is weak, when it isn't confused. And the script - with the rare good line ("You are a god among insects") - is banal.
Where the X-men franchise scores over super-heroes such as Spiderman or Daredevil is that there are so many special powers to display. The down-side though is that the multitude of players allows no space for character exploration or development. So, the film is fun, furious but ultimately froth.
I expected a lot of the original and was a rather disappointed but, this time, I knew what to expect and it delivered on that limited level.