A great sequel !

Rating: 8/10 (3 May 2005)

Almost every major Hollywood blockbuster of recent years has had its sequel,and more often than not,the sequel has outperformed the original in terms of both quality and box-office success.This movie is no exception.X2 is a pleasure to watch,right from the beginning to the end.First of all,this film has many new characters.By introducing us to the school for the mutants,Director Brian Singer gives us a colorful cast of teen aged mutant heroes,thus making the film more attractive to the younger audience.As was the case with the first movie,here too it is Hugh Jackman who takes center-stage with his realistic performance.Of course,Halle Berry as Storm and Famke Janssen as Gene are both brilliant.Special mention must be made of Alan Cumming who plays the Nightcrawler.He delivers a credible performance and his character plays a pivotal role in the story too:it is he who leads Storm into Cerebro and it is he who saves the life of Rogue(played by Anna Paquin).Anna Paquin shows a lot of promise-she does her role a lot better than she did in the previous installment.Now to the action.X2 has fantastic special effects,easily outdoing the first film.I especially liked the scene where Magneto(played by Sir Ian Mckellen) breaks out of his plastic prison.Great stuff.this ! I also loved the fight between Hugh Jackman and Kelly Hu-what a pity that this beautiful 'Scorpion King 'leading lady didn't get a bigger role !The big surprise in the movie is when we get to see Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as she really looks-in one,oh so short scene !Makes you wonder why the CGI guys had to be so cruel to her. All things considered,this film is indeed a great sequel -and I wouldn't at all mind if Singer gives us X3.