It seems great at first....

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2003)

In retrospect, X2 was rather disapointing. It started with a bang (actually a bamf) in a sequence that was almost worthy of the first Matrix, but it went downhill from there. There was no electricity between the characters, it was all flat. Logan and Jean wasn't even the same dynamic. Hugh Jackman was far too relaxed and was more himself than Logan much of the time (in the same way James Bond actors don't really act, they just coast on their charisma). And Logan only got two chances to kick ass, the second of which, good though it was, was once again Wolverine getting his ass kicked by a woman.
Nightcrawler was awesome but obviously crammed into a plot which couldn't really support him, Bobby and Rogue could have been left out, Magneto was just Ian McKellen having a fun time, not the obsessed, would-be Malcolm X of the mutant world. "i love what you've done with your hair," is something Magneto of the first film would never say. Stryker was yet another British thesp playing a Hollywood villain, nothing more. All the characters were real 3D people in the first movie, but they are closer to 2D action movie characters here. The action and effects in general were twice as good as in the original, but there was still not enough action.
X2 was more satisfying as an action adventure blockbuster, but the first movie was better written and directed, was tighter and more exciting, and had far better acting. X2 is a big movie, but the original is a special movie. And a better one.