Suprising

Rating: 8/10 (8 November 2003)

The first film was so dreary and contrived that I was expecting not too much from X2. Thankfully, this sequel is leagues beyond the 2000 original in every way: story, pacing, action scenes, and character development are all brought up a notch, and the result is an entertaining ride from start to finish. Nightcrawler in particular is a showstopper, and Halle Berry has finally figured out the angle of her Storm character, and used it to her advantage. Of course Cyclops is as boring as ever; actually, the filmmakers must have realized this because he has almost no role in the movie! Wolverine is still a fan favorite, and he finally gets to show off his violent temper here in more ways than one. The acting is solid all around, but Kiwi Anna Paquin needs to decide if Rogue has a Southern accent or not. Ian McKellen is fantastic as Magneto, and Patrick Stewart is still the perfect Professor X, even if his role is somewhat diminished this time around. There's also a surprise ending that will please X-fans (the allusions to a particular era in X-history are obvious).
The only thing that really bothered me about X2 is Kelly Hu's Yuriko; I won't spoil anything, but it's a minor plot hole that bugged me (or maybe there's something I missed). Still, recent titles like X2 are proving that superhero movies don't have to suck if they're done keeping both the average filmgoer and the insatiable uberfan in mind.