X-tremely good sequel

Rating: 9/10 (3 February 2015)

I was never that much of a fan of the original X-men movie, not that I'm a die-hard comic book fan of the source material; I just thought it could have been better. Luckily, X-men 2 (or 'X2' as it's sometimes known) is that rarest of breeds – a sequel that actually surpasses its predecessor.
For the few of you that don't know, the X-men are a bunch of superheroes (or 'mutants' as is the term here), naturally each having his or her own superpower. And, whereas the nice of our mutated friends hang out at 'Professor X's' 'school for the gifted,' those less keen on helping mankind are part of Magneto's 'Brotherhood.' Naturally, the two groups have a tendency to square off from time to time and anyone like me, i.e. not a superpower to my name, does tend to get caught in the middle.
Therefore the President of America isn't too keen on his voters being fried to a crisp with some sort of mutant 'mind-ray' and enlists the help of one slightly psychotic general (Stryker) to come up with a plan to get rid of all mutants – good or bad. This, in turn, means that the X-men have to team up with the Brotherhood in order to save their collective skins. So, you have a nicely uneasy alliance formed (which you basically know won't last, but it's still fun to watch).
And it's generally a great adventure to watch. If you're generally into superhero movies then you've probably seen the 'Marvel' films. It's worth noting that X-men does have a flavour of its own and, despite being taken from the same comic universe, feels different enough to make it stand out in its own right. Its tone is overall darker than the films of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, but, unlike Marvel's heroes, the X-men has to concentrate on more characters at once.
It's an 'ensemble' cast, with many famous faces playing the leads. Therefore not all the X-men really get as much screen time as the probably deserve. Yes, there are a few 'lesser' mutants who don't really matter, but equally most of the cast would probably be able to carry an entire film of their own (not just Wolverine, the fans' favourite who spawned an entire franchise of his own). Yes, (the many) fans of Wolverine will be happiest, as he's clearly the star, but Sir Ian McKellen gets a decent crack of the whip as the leader of the Brotherhood.
One misfire was 'Nightcrawler.' I do actually remember him from the comics as a creepy-looking good guy who basically looked like a monster/vampire. I always pictured him a dark and hulking presence, brooding silently and basically playing the part of the anti-hero. However, he's sort of more the 'comic relief' of the film, always jabbering on like a blue-faced Jar Jar Binks. Luckily, like many of the lesser mutants, he's not in it that much, but he could have been so much cooler than he is (my opinion!).
So, all in all, if you like your superhero movies and enjoy them with a darker flavour than your average Marvel epic, give this one a go. If you're well into your X-men comics, it might be worth checking the cast list to see how much your favourite character is in it – even a big film like X2 can't cater for every mutant!