X-Men United A Much Better Sequel With Some Flaws

Rating: 8/10 (19 May 2009)

I thought this one of those rare sequels that was actually much better improvement over the first one but there were some flaws. The film is no Dark Knight or Spider-man 2 but I'd say that it's just as good as either Iron Man or The Incredible Hulk. Bryan Singer does an admirable job with this sequel giving the audiences some more interesting characters (but it can feel a bit much at times) and just enough exhilarating sci-fi action. Singer improves on some of the flaws in the first one but some are still in the sequel but the good outweighs the bad. The cast are great in their roles including Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine, Ian McKellen as Eric Lesherr/Magento, Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm, Famke Janssen as Jean Grey (Phoenix), James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops, Rebecca Romijin Stamos as Mystique, and Anna Paquin Marie D'Ancanto/Rogue. Joining the cast are Brian Cox as one of the villains Colonel William Striker, Kelly Hu as Lady Deathstrike, and Alan Cumming as Kurt Warner/Nightcrawler. The rest of the supporting cast are good in their roles but unfortunately they don't get a lot of screen time and aren't developed either. Magneto, Mystique, Striker, and Deathstrike prove to be effective villains. But how many villains can you have in one movie? Other than Deathstrike not being in it much and having almost no dialogue. The actors and actresses bring a lot to their roles no matter how big or small it may be. On the side of good Wolverine, Storm, Jean, and Nightcrawler prove to be believable heroes in the imaginary world they inhabit where mutants and humans are trying to co-exist. Some of the flaws in the last film are in this one as well like the fact that they still seem to be juggling too many characters (Colossus, Jubilee, and Kitty Pride have nothing more than brief cameos). Patrick Stewarts Charles Xavier and James Marsden's Cyclops also seemed to have less screen time than they did in the first film as well. Cyclops disappears for a large parts of the movie (like Xavier) only to show up near the end. The other supporting characters including Iceman and Pyro have bigger roles that some of the others but they still lack screen time. Bruce Davison also returns for a brief blink and you missed it appearance as Senator Kelly from the first film (He's actually Mystique because his character died in the first X-Men). With it's flaws aside X-Men United is still definitely a much better improvement over it's predecessor and is an entertaining comic book brought to the big screen. From it's incredible opening sequence involving a teleporting Nightcrawler to it's emotional climax involving the possible death of a major character X-Men United has plenty action, suspense, thrills, drama, and some humor that make for an enjoyable film to watch.