Potential for a classic sci-fi but falls just short

Rating: 8/10 (22 December 2003)

I gave this one an 8, for marvellous special effects and score that complement rather than detract from the movie...and for acting in which all the main players take their characters and related abilities seriously...allowing us to suspend disbelief. Where it falls just short is in trying to string too many storylines together all at once and never really allowing us to just be absorbed in the drama or adventure...because we're always trying to figure out which stream we're now following. The downside to this is that if people haven't seen the first movie...they don't really get to know the strife that each of the characters is suffering within themselves and society. Overall though, an excellent job of putting comic book to big screen with mostly believable action sequences...a few good quips for Wolverine (though not as many as X1, I thought)...and a pretty good story. Needed just a little bit extra though to match up to Raiders of the Lost Ark or Aliens.