really entertaining

Rating: 7/10 (12 May 2003)

It was MUCH better than the first one! The action and special effects sequences in this movie were top notch. I didn't much care about the first one and as I was watching it, I realized one of the reasons why: the first one was mainly establishing all the characters and their powers and left hardly any room for action and coolness. The second one basically devoted ALL of its time to action and coolness because all the characters were already established by the first movie. I also think Bryan Singer, the director, improved 100%. I thought he was wrong for X-MEN 1 and I wasn't a big fan of THE USUAL SUSPECTS, but on X2, he did an excellent job. Maybe a lot of people helped him on X2 since the budget was a lot bigger. The cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel (who worked on the first X-MEN movie and on THREE KINGS) was also really creative. I especially liked the scene where Mystique seduces the prison guard in the bar. It has really clever and weird angles. Of course the special effects and makeup was awesome (especially the stuff with Nightcrawler).
There really were only two problems with the movie: the screenplay could have been better and the acting could have been A LOT better. Brian Cox, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen all were pretty good, but everyone else sort of sucked.
My grade:
7 out of 10