A fun, exciting sequel

Rating: 6/10 (5 June 2003)

I walked into this movie really hopeful that my appreciation for the first X-Men film wasn't a fluke. While I am a self-admitted comic book geek from way back, I tend to not like the films derived from comic book or graphic novel origins. There are a few exceptions: Ghost World, the first two Batman films, and for camp value, the first two Superman films  but the bad far outweigh the good. Having this opinion, I didn't expect much of anything out of X-Men three years ago but ended up being very pleasantly surprised. I am delighted to say that I did walk out pleasantly surprised again this time, but because I actually liked the sequel better than its predecessor.
In X2, we once again have the same characters we left off with from the first film along with a few interesting additions  most notably Nightcrawler, who was brilliantly portrayed by Alan Cumming. I can't imagine that projecting feeling from behind pounds of blue makeup and prosthetics can be easy, but he absolutely made it work. X2 had more thrills and back story than the first film as well as more of a compelling story line. Fortunately, it isn't completely necessary to have seen X-Men before viewing this film; however the exposition used to transfer viewers from the first to second film was subtle enough to clue in first time viewers without irritating fans who know the background. Without providing spoilers, I will commend the film for taking chances and for providing hints for readers of the comic book of things to come.
--Shelly