X-Phobic People must Unite

Rating: 9/10 (13 May 2010)

As great the original X-Men was, X2 topped it, much like Spider-Man 2 over Spider-Man. They certainly up'd the ante on action, story and character development. And none of that was easy with the increased character/mutant list. Director Singer should be incredibly proud on pulling off what 98% of Comic Book sequels fail at: adding more and yet keeping the perfect balance all the while improving on the original. (Perfect examples are the recent Iron Man 2 and the original sequels to the original Batman.) There are multiple story lines here, but the majority wrap around the increasing war between Humans (and Politicians) and the Mutants. Profession Xavier (Stewart) is juggling a lot on his wheelchair-bound lap: Wolverine's (Jackman) background, Grey's (Janssen) future, Magneto's (McKellen) present, all while running a school, bartering for equality and helping even the guilty/used mutants.
Most times, I have problems with multistory lines in movies, especially comic book and definitely comic book sequels (SEE: Iron Man 2 and Spider-Man 3) but here, everything was used to both further the story along and to enhance it by once again using everyone's different personalities and powers efficiently. Every scene was extremely well crafted, there was enough plot and character development for you to root for both the good and the bad.
The battles were well crafted, the characters flushed out perfectly and the action intense, even when nothing was happening. In a lot of movies, the actors simply rely on the director to command everything with full trust. Here, it paid off, in dividends, and they seemed to be having a good time while portraying a good story. As a sequel, it was a great pay-off. On its own, it's a great movie. No one should miss this great adventure.
I haven't given too much away – one of my Kryptonite weaknesses, so just sit back, enjoy. If the actual premise or the fact you liked part one is your fancy, you will love this feature.