A fine slice of summer blockbuster excitement.

Rating: 9/10 (31 July 2003)

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD:
The Marvel X Men comics deal with a group of mutant humans with extraordinary powers who have started appearing on Earth through some apparent evolutionary leap. Some of them (led by Professor Xavier) want to work with the rest of mankind towards a better future, and some (led by the evil Magneto) want to destroy it. Broadly speaking, the X Men comics can be taken as an allegory about whatever minority group one happens to sympathise with.
The first X Men film was good, but felt distinctly like a warm-up, and that the real story was yet to come. Sure enough, in X-Men 2 we have a sequel that in almost every way outdoes its predecessor. It seems George Lucas set a template of how to do a good sequel with The Empire Strikes Back and sure enough, this film follows that kind of formula very well (ie its funnier, darker, more complex and has a surprise downbeat ending setting up a third film).
The plot is interesting and unexpected. Xavier's X Men are forced to form an uneasy alliance with Magneto against an evil US general named Stryker. For reasons of his own, Stryker is conspiring to start a war between mutants and the rest of mankind. During the alliance, Magneto exerts a corrupting influence, which threatens to turn some of the X Men to his side. Almost all the X Men from the previous film are back and have significant parts to play, and there are new additions to the cast with the likes of Pyro and Nightcrawler (who thankfully retains the Christianity so essential to his character in the comics). However, once again Wolverine is the main focus, as he discovers Stryker holds the key to his dark past.
Performances are all good (as ever, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart take top prize). The special effects and action scenes are all good too, particularly in some of the `smaller' moments (eg Magneto's escape from prison). Better still, it has a decent music score this time (John Ottman). The screenplay is very good (based on a story from the comics) and its brilliantly directed by Bryan Singer.
If I had to pick nits, I'd say the tornados in one particular scene looked a little ropey. That said, there is much to praise in X Men 2 and it is a fine slice of summer blockbuster excitement.