This sequel doesn't soar...

Rating: 6/10 (11 June 2006)

Due to my recent viewing of the film, "X-Men 3: The Last Stand", I went back and watched "X2: X-Men United" again? Was it as good as everyone said it was? Well...
The film, if you already didn't know what it was about, revolves around Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman, who gives a very skillful performance) trying to stop Colonel William Stryker (played by Brian Cox), a military Colonel who (surprise, surprise) wants to kill all mutants. Oh, and there are some other characters, but they don't do much, which brings me to my next point.
A lot of the characters in this film are criminally underused. Yes, we have Wolverine chopping and impaling and slicing enemies galore, but what about everyone else? This is not "Wolverine and Friends", this is the X-Men, for God's sake! Cyclops appears for all of a few minutes, then he gets beat and kidnapped for most of the film. Nightcrawler, admittedly, has an amazing opening sequence where he attempts to assassinate the President while brainwashed, but then he becomes virtually useless until the last part of the movie, where he (you guessed it) only uses his teleporting powers, and we never get to see him fight anyone else. I think the filmmakers were trying to go somewhere with Pyro, Rogue and Bobby Drake, but as it is, they only really have a part in the middle of the film, then become background noise. There are other cameos by Kitty Pryde, Colossus and Hank McCoy as a human, but it feels like they were only put there as lip service to the fans.
The acting in the film, however, is quite consistent and strong. Most notably, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan (as Charles Xavier and Magneto, respectively) both carry their parts incredibly well, and, as in the first film, make you feel like they've known each other for a long time, and have been through quite a few things together. The rest of the supporting cast is quite good as well, although they don't get many moments to shine.
I will say, for all the thought put into the film, there are a number of blatant plot issues. For instance, why would Jean Grey feel the need to step outside of the X-Jet and raise the ship up while controlling the tidal wave, when she could do the exact same thing while standing inside the craft? And what's with the abundance of exposition in the film? Things told to us in the beginning of the film(such as Kurt's ability to transport, Magneto's helmet, Pyro's desire to do more with his powers) are then blatantly set up as foreshadowing over and over again, and as a result, the rest of the film becomes predictable.
Another issue I had with the film is the lack of teamwork present between all the X-Men. Most of the fights in the film are set up so that a main character will go off on their own, get into a skirmish, and then rejoin the rest of the main party later on. Numerous examples of this style occur, including: Wolverine vs. Lady Deathstrike, Pyro vs. police officers, Wolverine vs. Colonel Stryker, Mystique vs. soldiers, Jean vs. Cyclops, and even Magneto vs. more soldiers.
However, the action scenes were very well-choreographed, and kept me interested in the action.
Bottom Line: In conclusion, I enjoyed it for what it was, a big silly Hollywood blockbuster, but I expected more out of it. I give this film a 6 out of 10. If they had focused more on the comic book aspects and teamwork, the film would have been much better.