Good but...

Rating: 6/10 (3 May 2003)

Overall, X2 is a solid blockbuster entry. It has characters that are well thought out and well inhibited by the actors portraying them. There are beautifully sequenced fights and action sequences. And the relationships between the mutant characters is remarkable for a movie this lightweight. But I did have a few major qualms with this movie.
First off, it's WAY too long. About thirty minutes too long. It needed to be shorter and more focused. I wasn't really expecting this problem from a Bryan Singer movie as his films tend to zip through start to finish and are usually expertly edited. That's not to say some of the scenes that probably should have been edited weren't good scenes. One scene that comes to mind is the scene at Iceman, Bobby Drake's house, which is completely inconsequential to the real action of the movie and tacks on a good five or ten minutes. There are countless scenes like this that add up to create a large close to 2 1/2 hour movie that you stop caring about the last ten minutes. The first X-Men movie was short and while unfufilling in some respects, didn't wear out it's welcome. It was a great popcorn movie. This one require a popcorn AND a hot dog AND a refill on the popcorn.
Secondly, it was preachy. I think everyone got the idea that the only way conflict can be resolved between mutants and humans is that they learn to live together instead of trying to kill each other. I think this is pretty obvious to the audience after the third time someone has a monologue about acceptance, but after the umpteenth time someone gives a speech about acceptance or the lack thereof you wish Wolverine would just claw the speaker to pieces. The only thing I can think of is that maybe it is a veiled attempt at one or many political messages. Christian persecution, gay persecution, mistreatment of minorities & our foreign policy are all ripe for picking but none of these really stick in our mind. So we are left with getting lectured about accepting mutants. And mutants DON'T EXIST! So all this lecturing feels a bit pointless and empty for interpretation by whoever.
Finally, my last qualm with this movie is actually an element missing from one of my favorite part of the movie, the wolverine fight scenes. I'm not going to go into any detail about his fight scenes, but let's just say they are much cooler and more intense than in the first one and are easily the edgiest part of the movie. But there was one thing missing...blood. Now I know this is a PG13 movie, but when a human being gets clawed through the chest, there tends to be blood. To not include blood is to lessen our conflicted feelings as Wolverine kills the guys who attack him rather than just disabling them like the other X Men. He's dangerous and hot-headed and not the guy to mess with, and I want to see the blood splatter on his face when he stabs the dude. It doesn't even have to be explicitly violent. Just enough to know that this guy has an edge and a dark side about him that the others don't. As I said, he's dangerous.
Anyway, other than that the movie was a very impressive sequel with great acting. And I know it was better than the first, I just didn't connect with it like the first one. I think fans of the first movie should definitely see this one along with non-fans who will like this one better. A nice if overblown blockbuster to start the summer season.