Great moments though the whole doesn't quite gel

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2003)

***WARNING: SPOILERS ALERT*** ***WARNING: SPOILERS ALERT***
There are some great moments in this film, the beginning sequence of course, but others as well: cameos by Colossus and Kitty Pryde; the touching and dramatic scenes at Bobby Drake's parents' house; the nice but all-too brief scene with Storm and Nightcrawler discussing religious faith and the struggle to survive; the siege on X-Mansion and Wolverine doing a "Weapon X"-like counterattack on the intruders; the escape of Magneto; well I could go on and on -- this movie has a lot of moments but ultimately I think it fails to gel as a whole picture. The many new characters were a welcome addition and the movie clocked in at a healthy 2 1/4 hours, which should've been enough to do justice to all the storylines. At times though I felt the movie sacrificed character focus and dramatic build-up for plot efficiency and needless "show" scenes. What follows is a mix of cheers and jeers.
Certain moments could've been left out entirely (and I know many will disagree with me on this) - to begin, the Lady Deathstrike/Wolverine encounter at the end was a disappointment. You knew it was coming the entire time (from the previews, mainly) and it was too short and served no real purpose other to show-off some cool effects. In my opinion this whole sequence could have been edited out since it added nothing and didn't deliver even as a side-item. In contrast the Sabretooth/Wolverine final conflict in the first movie was more effective because the personal animosity between them had been established early on. I think bringing in the fact that Wolverine and Sabretooth once worked together as allies with Stryker (again going back to the books) would have been a very effective and suitable subplot. I guess Tyler Mane wasn't interested in an encore.
The ending was very reminiscent of "Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan" and the death of Spock and his eventual return, and yes, I understood the Phoenix reference from the comic storyline. However, I think that was a misplaced concept -- did anyone noticed that noone even bothered to find Jean's body? It's not like it was incinerated (like in the original Phoenix story), this is a flood! I guess they don't believe in "leaving no man behind." Or am I missing something here? If they weren't able to find it, that's one thing, but they didn't even bother to look for it (for Scott and Logan's sake if nothing else). In addition, this was supposed to be the unexpected dramatic high point of the movie, but there wasn't any dramatic build-up to it -- it just happened (in contrast, consider the ending of STII which was alluded to in various ways through the entire movie, thus creating a dramatic build-up and a more satisfying result).
Professor X again gets incapacitated here, though he isn't taken out most of the movie as in the first one. Patrick Stewart is an incredible actor, and sad to say but he made many of the other actors look simply boring. I would like to have seen Jason survive the ordeal with Xavier, after all, wouldn't a mutant capable of controlling Professor X be worth having as a possible ally? Especially when his greatest enemy (his father) is now (presumably) dead. As with Jean, though, they left him behind to get crushed by the collapsing Cerebro.
As far as characters go, my biggest problem here is with Storm: when she was discovered (in the comic series) she was an African queen using her weather powers to (benevolently) rule over her people, very dramatic personality. This personal history would create a more intense personality-type for anyone. However, for the first movie and this one she is simply another somewhat introverted and angry mutant. I don't know whether it's by design or not, but I think Halle Berry *IS CAPABLE* of playing a character with a showy personality. I mean if you could control the weather and used to be a queen, wouldn't you have a more extroverted personality? I don't understand the reasoning behind this. She's always been one of my favorite characters in the books BECAUSE of this rich mix of personality and powers.
Wolverine didn't take center stage like in the first movie, but once again he was one of the bright spots. The casting choice was and remains perfect. I would've preferred a return of Sabretooth (thus continuing the drama from the first movie) over the brief and wasted introduction/demise of Lady Deathstrike (who was never even named in this movie).
The Stryker character was effective, especially the scene where he was describing how his wife took a power drill to her temple in an attempt to release the illusions that her son was planting in her mind. I think Stryker's relationship with Wolverine was one of the better developed subplots.
And how could I leave out Mystique, who was definitely the eye-pleaser of the movie (for us guys that is). It would be nice to have Storm's personality developed along those same lines as a counterweight. Every scene she was in was worth the price of admission. Great action, wonderfully mischievous and sneaky character. Another perfect casting choice! Loved the Mystique/Wolverine seduction scene (and who was that blond she appeared as in the bar?)
And like Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan is a wonder to behold, I actually enjoyed him more in this one as a sort of Hannibal Lecter-type. The brief interplay between him and Pyro was great, definitely a good choice for a protege. Again a perfect casting choice.
Pyro (John) was a wonderful addition here as the mutant with an attitude. Great personality, at the same time sympathetic, the kind of bad kid you definitely want on your side. That whole scene at Bobby Drake's folks' house (including the few tender moments Bobby and Rogue spent together) was excellent. Very memorable, very dramatic. I should add that Rogue and Bobby had great chemistry here both and Rogue's brief appearances were NOT wasted (after all she "persuaded" Pyro to stand down from his fiery assault on the cops).
The best new addition was, hands-down, Nightcrawler, played to perfection here......using CORRECT German, I might add (even when he was praying). I really wanted to see more of him, he sort of took a back seat for the second half of the movie. Maybe some flashbacks of his past as a circus freak would've been a nice touch. The introduction of a significant religious element here is a nice touch. And the involved make-up could not be improved upon.
Jean's personality came out more in this movie (she was rather flat in the first one), and her scenes with Wolverine were great. I think her unfocused condition and ultimate "demise" should have been developed more throughout to give the ending more a reason-to-be. Maybe in the next one her return as Phoenix (though I still fail to see how a flood will cause this -- being consumed by fire and rising from the ashes, that is what a Phoenix is) will create a much more forceful personality for Jean (and maybe force Storm to come out of her shell as well). I wouldn't mind seeing more personal histories overall in the next one as well (as we have gotten nothing so far about Scott and Jean's past).
Overall I recommend this movie: it has a more substantial plot and many improvements over the first installment. But I think it could have spent more time developing the quieter moments to give the dramatic moments greater impact. Some of these worked (Bobby's folks, Nightcrawler in the church) but the more crucial ones didn't (Jean's self-sacrifice). It would have made the movie longer to do so, but, hey if it works, who cares? Maybe some of these will show up on the DVD as deleted scenes or (better) a restored director's cut. Still, lessons learned for the next installment - maybe the third time's the charm.