Excellent Movie until it Wears out its Welcome

Rating: 7/10 (29 October 2008)

Focus is an important word. The first "X-Men" movie has it. It is a short movie but carries a simple plot and has no unessential moment. The sequel is full of such moments. The characters are now established so there is more room for fun. Second chapters can use that to their advantage. "From Russia with Love" is the best of Connery's Bond movies. "Tomorrow Never Dies," which comes after "GoldenEye" re-introduced Bond to the public, is the strongest one starring Pierce Brosnan. "The Empire Strikes Back" remains the pre-eminent Star Wars movie, and "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" and "First Contact" are the fan favorites. All of those movies had focus. "X2" gets so wrapped up in itself that it does not know when to quit.
THIS IS YOUR WARNING TO STOP READING IF HAVE NOT SEEN THE FIRST MOVIE.
"X2" begins where its predecessor ends. Magneto (Ian McKellen) remains incarcerated in a plastic prison; Mystique (Rebecca Romijn Stamos), still masquerades as Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison), and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is checking out a location that may be the key to his past. Cyclops (James Marsden), Storm (Halle Barry) and Jean Gray (Famke Janssen) continue to teach young students at Professor Xavier's (Patrick Stewart) School for the Gifted. Rouge (Anna Paquin), Bobby aka Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and John aka Pyro (Aaron Stanford) are among the best students.
A mutant attack on the President (Cotter Smith) shatters the peace between "normal" humans and their mutant kin. Colonel William Stryker (Brian Cox), a man with Hitler-like hatred of mutants, seizes the opportunity to attain authorization for a raid on Xavier's school. At his side stands Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu), a mysterious mutant whose cooperation stems from reasons initially unknown.
For the first three quarters, "X2" is markedly better than its predecessor. Character interaction is briefly put aside in favor of story setup, but its strength from before remains. The subtitle "X-Men United" indicates that this will not be a typical X-Men story. Everyone knew that a third chapter was coming, so we have an easy time accepting these sacrifices. Sadly, an axe-murderer mangled the dead-on-arrival third installment.
The opening White House scene sets a high standard for the action and the writers develop Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) into one of the movie's most complete characters. Wolverine gets his first berserk scene. Many mutants have their own showcase moments: Bobby's ice wall, Banshee's ear-bone-busting scream, and Colossus' beat down of the military are some examples. The most awe-inspiring is Pyro's excessive assault on the police.
The final assault on Stryker's base contains the best moments. It is at this time that writers Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter do not know when enough is enough. The action ends at minute 96 and the major conflict is settled at 99. That leaves nearly 30 minutes of dead space before the credits. A plot contrivance extends the act, but even that takes only a few more minutes. I am not averse to character time. The first movie is my favorite and it has the most.
Cox turns Stryker into a more-than-memorable villain. Jackman again proves why he is the best actor to play Wolverine. The other standout is Kelly Hu. She mainly has to act with her face and does so flawlessly. It helps that she is a finalist for most beautiful woman on the planet.
The movie has a lot of glass balls to juggle, but after the Wolverine/Deathstrike fight, they all fall to the ground and shatter. The interminable ending includes one more contrivance with cheesy special effects. The anticlimax causes "X2" to fizzle long before it is over. Only because a majority is so great do I give it a recommendation.