Hard to imagine what it could have done better

Rating: 9/10 (2 May 2003)

Perhaps the most amazing thing about X-Men 2, or X2, as the kids are calling it, is how it successfully juggles 12 major characters and a host of minor ones. Almost everyone's favorite X-Men make at least a brief appearance. (Sadly, still no Gambit, but if you pay attention, you'll see him mentioned.)
Before I get into it, a couple brief warnings. This movie assumes that you have seen X-Men. If you haven't, there are a lot of things you won't understand. It's widely available on DVD and VHS, so there's no excuse to not watch it first. Also, X2 is about as violent as a PG-13 can be. While there is no explicit gore, the body count is scores above X-Men's and there are some bloody scenes.
X2 is given much more breathing room than the original. It runs half an hour longer and doesn't have to spend time on exposition. The result is a plot that doesn't have to sacrifice plot or character. This is critical because, as I mentioned, there are a lot of characters to get to know.
All the performances are excellent. There's not a single actor who doesn't make you believe in their character. The cast from the first film keep up the high quality here. Halle Berry is in fact better. Shawn Ashmore does a great job with his expanded role. Newcomers Brian Cox, Kelly Hu, Aaron Stanford and especially Alan Cumming are similarly impressive. Mr. Cumming bears special mention here as Nightcrawler would appear to be a particularly difficult character to pull off in live action. Thanks to his efforts along with those of the special and visual effects teams, he's perfect.
Speaking of the effects teams, this movie looks amazing. They had an extra 33% budget to work with this time around and it shows. Nightcrawler's "bamph" effect is particularly noteworthy, but other sequences such as Cerebro and the ending sequence are certainly not slouches.
In short, X2 does everything right. The cinematography, directing, acting, script, sets, costumes and effects range from excellent to perfect. Unless you absolutely loathe action movies (in which case, why are you even reading this), I strongly recommend you see this movie.