Better that its predecessor

Rating: 8/10 (22 December 2003)

It's very rare that a sequel is better than the original. It's even rarer that a very good movie has an excellent sequel. But super-hero movies manage to do that; Spider-man 2, Batman Returns, Superman II and X2 all improved their originals.
The first movie had interesting themes concerning intolerance against mutants. It was compared to hatred against Jews, communists and homosexuals. Unfortunately, the movie's action was a bit dull and it seemed that its edges weren't smoothed down quite enough. Some sub-plots didn't get anywhere and the movie seemed too short. Nevertheless it was a happy surprise, that an action movie can be so thoughtful and woke an interest to the X-men comics in me (I can't tell the difference between Dr. Doom and the Hobgoblin, so don't think I only liked this movie because I love the comics!)
This one gives a lot of thought to the themes too. Iceman "comes out of the closet" to his family, who react by saying "Have you tried not being a mutant?" Also casting Alan Cumming and Ian McKellen, who are both openly homosexual is a clear hint to the themes.
This movie does it all better. Some characters, like Jean Grey and Mystique have more time on the screen as they did on the first movie and new character Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) almost steals the show. However, some characters, like Cyclops and Iceman are still left in the background, but you can't have all in one movie. Maybe in X3 we'll see some stunning scenes with them.
The story's focus is on Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who will find out more about his past, as hinted out in the first movie. Another primary character is Professor Xavier (Patrick Steward), who is being used against his will as a tool to destroy all mutants. The bad guy isn't Ian McKellen's Magneto this time, but general William Stryker who holds a grudge against the mutants because of his son, who is also a mutant.
This movie has more action this time, but fortunately it doesn't interfere with the plot. This is how more action movies should be made; the action alongside the story, not showing only neat CG-sequences, although this movie contains CG, too. Mystique's shape-chancing's are wonderful, but Pyro's flame attack doesn't look quite real. But I'm not complaining, the movie's too good to start nitpicking.
**** 1/2 (9/10)
The best part (SPOILER): Magneto escapes from the prison in a quite cunning way; He takes the iron out of a guards blood and floats on a disc he's made from the iron, while killing the other guards with smaller iron balls.