Wolverine 2

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2005)

Wolverine is back! And so are the rest of the X-Men, I guess. This time around, we have a new bad guy, and some new X-Men.
'X2' opens with a teleporting mutant attacking the White House and making an attempt on the President's life. Instantly recognizable to anyone who reads the comics, this new guy is Nightcrawler, and he seems to be under some sort of mind-control. Soon after, the Xavier Institute is attacked by General Stryker, a mutant-hater who seems to know secrets about Wolverine's past. The X-Men are scattered, and Professor X missing, they must team up with former foes to find Stryker and stop his dastardly plans.
It must have been hard to top 'X-Men', but Bryan Singer and David Hayter did it again. While 'X2' doesn't blow 'X-Men' out the water, it is better. With most of the characters already introduced and a longer running time, we get treated to a better story and some new characters, and even nods to the fans with a great many references to other characters, events, and places from the comics. The human / mutant bigotry remains the main theme, but this time the villain is a human with anti-mutant intentions, as opposed to the mutant with anti-human intentions from the first movie.
Action and special effects are still top-notch. Colussus even makes a small appearance, and his metal skin is done very well. All the fight scenes are better, and Wolverine's final fight with (Lady) Deathstrike completely outshining the showdown between Wolverine and Sabretooth in the first movie. Other scenes (including Nightcrawler attacking the White House and the assault on the Xavier Institute) are exciting and executed perfectly.
Unfortunately, I have a few more complaints this time around. Cyclops has even less screen-time than he had in the first film, and he is supposed to be the X-Men's leader! Like seemingly everyone else, I didn't like Halle Berry as Storm. She just isn't the wise, but powerful Storm from the comics. On a similar note, I didn't like the film's interpretation of Lady Deathstrike. She has one line in the entire movie, and should not be playing second-fiddle to General Stryker. I have a feeling she was thrown in just because of the association with Wolverine.
Speaking of Wolverine, he is my favourite of the X-Men, but the movie does center around him again. Either make a Wolverine movie or an X-Men movie. In more Wolverine news, Kitty Pryde appears in one scene, just as she did in the first. She is another of my favourites, and I'd like to see her do a little bit more than appear as a nod to the fans.
Overall, 'X2' is better than 'X-Men', but you really have to see 'X-Men' before watching this, especially for those who aren't fans of the comics. It has a nice ending, leaving room in 'X-Men 3' for one of the biggest story-arcs in 40 years of X-Men comics - 9/10