So much here for everyone, with an ending for X fans

Rating: 10/10 (8 May 2003)

There is so much happening in this movie, I can't believe it turned out to be as good as it is. The script and dialogue are clever, and perfect. The effects are eye-popping. The pacing is intense but not frenetic. It's easy to follow, and there many little side jokes and nice little touches that keep you chuckling.
Like in the first movie, this one starts with a premise that is far-fetched, but then the rest of it all "makes sense". Everything that happens falls out of the characters' motivations and their abilities. The characters are real people behind the masks, and fallible despite some fantastic abilities.
The biggest problem is the same that was in the first movie: there are so many characters, and too little time to develop them. We see a bit more of Mystique (no, no, I mean her character), and Magneto is again played to perfection by McKellan. Nightcrawler has an incredible opening, but then sits in the background. Storm only gets a few good scenes, and we still know almost nothing about her. Cyclops again gets short shrift, becoming a background presence despite being probably the most powerful of the X-Men and technically their leader. Hopefully in the next installment they do more with him (Marsden keeps getting knocked for a wooden performance, but he did the best with what he had).
The next problem is more for those of us with young children: should we take them, or not? This movie is much darker and more violent than the first. Wolverine is ferocious at times, and actually kills some bad guys (what are claws for?).
And there is the third problem: a couple of times, Wolverine goes from gruff but likeable, to a berserk killing machine, and then back to likeable. Not likely. At least, not that fast.
The ending has a couple good twists. The new villain in the making isn't a great surprise, but it's still a twist and again it "makes sense" given what we have seen about him. The mysterious ending will make sense to fans who follow the X-Men stories (I do, a little), and sets up the entry of yet another character in the next movie.