They've listened to my plea and made a sequel

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2003)

X2 (what people invent such a clever title?) was released here in the Netherlands on May the 1st, but I had to wait until today (May 25th) before I could finally watch it, because as a poor student I was a little short of cash (plus I'd planned to waste my last few bucks on seeing The Matrix Reloaded on the REALLY big screen and watch X2 in the village cinema which gets movies a few weeks weeks to three months later than any other cinema). Anyway I was pretty excited to see it and when it came to my notice that the film would be playing th the village cinema on the 25 of May (a mere 3 weeks after it's release) I immediately reserved me some tickets. A few hours before going to the theater though I came to realize that I hadn't seen a preview of X2 yet. No trailer, no teaser, nothing (or had I simply forgot about it due to the Matrix hype?). The only thing I new was that the mutants had to stand united for something. Now why was I going to watch a film, if I didn't know what it was about? Well I was going, because I had seen the first X - Men film, which in my mind (I don't know if that is a good method to measure by) was awesome. To make it even more plain and simple: I was going because this film roughly had the same cast and crew as the first X - Men film and because I trusted them to make a good sequel. I didn't need noisy trailers or samples of the special effects and action scenes that were to be seen in the film. Being responsible for making X - Men (with Spider-Man THE BEST Marvel comic adaption until now) is all the credit you need to get me to the big screen.

X2 kicks off with a very nice fighting, scene which certainly owed some of it's visual finesse to Andy and Larry (you know who you are and so do most movie buffs). After that shine and turbulent intro the film continues where X - Men had ended, namely with Wolverine's quest to find out what exactly had happened to him. From that point on, these two events become entangled into each other and a story unfolds which builds on quite well on the previous film, without neglecting new elements. The new elements in the story are mainly new characters or characters that get a bit more attention than in X - Men (Pyro, Nightcrawler, Colossus) who were all portrayed in an acceptable manner by the actors. The only exception to that was Nightcrawler, who was portrayed excellently by Alan Cumming. He was very believable and rather sweet as the faithful and shy mutant from Germany and he even managed to nail the parts in the film in which he spoke German (correct German without too much of an accent and none of that: 'Schiess den Glas' crap they pulled in Die Hard). The rest of the film pretty much built forth on the things that were established in the first film (so if you haven't seen it I can advise you too, it will make some things much clearer). The film does so in an excellent manner and I've really got no complaints to the film overall. The action and the story were good, there were some emotional elements and one or two laughs as well, without any big misstep's. But comparing the film to it's predecessor (something which one always does) I must say that the film could have been a bit more dramatic. Not just to add drama, but to give the film more depth. Yes that is the word. The film could have had a bit more depth. It could for instance have explored the relationship between Jason and Charles Xavier a bit more or there could have been a bit more focus on what Stryker had done to Jason, so we (the viewers) could have felt a bit more for that pitiful 'creature'. Now mind you that these are all minor pointers to the makers and it does not mean that the film was not good. It just means that it wasn't as good as the first one, it wasn't perfect. But is still was a very good sequel. I (yes I too answer the question that has held a lot of movie freaks in their grip for quite some time this year) even thought it was better than The Matrix Reloaded. But that does not mean much, simply because The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions are to be combined into a 5 hour long film and I've only seen half of it. I am as it were currently in the lobby of the cinema drinking and eating some refreshments, waiting for the break to finish.

Singer, cast and crew have once again managed to make a good film and I am truly grateful for it. I sure as hell hope that they'll make a third film in the series and I hope that next time they'll inject a bit more of that Marvel-dilemma into the story. But this time I cannot be quite so sure of a sequel. None of the actors had signed a contract for more than two films and to be honest I think that there could be some problems with getting the entire cast to return. Academy Award winner Halle Berry might be the biggest trouble, but I certainly hope there won't be a problem a bigger paycheck can't solve. I don't care how much money the actors ask, give it to them they've earned it (on performance AND profit).

If the X - Men return, so shall I.

8,25 out of 10