In one of the most anticipated movies of 2003, we join the mutant superhero team from the hit comic, the X-men yet again from the throws of the surprising hit from 1999. In this one, after a coordinated attack on the president by a mutant terrorist, William Stryker, a mysterious military operative who has been doing reconnaissance on the Xavier mansion has discovered secrets within the house along with secrets on the students that attend the school. He convinces the president to let him and his army raids the mansion despite the arguments by Senator Kelly. After the X-men learn about the new mutant’s presence, they decide to travel across country and discover it, while Logan, back from his journey of discovery, baby sits all of the students for the night.
Jean Grey and Storm discover a new mutant who resides in an abandoned church named Kurt Wagner, a demonic mutant in appearance calling himself “Nightcrawler” who is heavily religious and can teleport and perform amazing acrobatics. Meanwhile, Logan adjusts to the calm mansion lifestyle, but all is disrupted when Stryker goes against the president’s orders and begins raiding the house, kidnapping the kids one by one, but must go up against the fiercely protective Logan, and many other mutants. Stryker is aided by a mysterious silent assistant named Yuriko who has mysterious ties to Logan and has abilities very closely resembling Logan’s own. Professor X and Cyclops are ambushed and taken prisoner at Stryker’s base by Magneto, while visiting him, attempting to divulge information as to how and why Stryker was able to corrupt the heavily secured mansion. Now the remaining X-men, led by Logan are forced to team up with the escaped and evil mutants Magneto and Mystique, and must corrupt Stryker’s home base which lies under a dam and free the mutants, and Professor X who is being interrogated by Stryker for the secrets of the mansion and the mutant- tracking super computer Cerebro.
If you’re an avid reader of my movie reviews, you’ll know by my reviews of past comic book movies that I am a fan boy, so it may not serve as a surprise that this movie was at the top of my list for the movies to see this year. I enjoyed the first “X-Men” so much and thought it managed to set a precedent and standard among many other comic book movies that only “Spider-Man” and “Daredevil” has been able to surpass so far. This movie is much more superior to the first; it’s a lot darker and focused on the characters than the first one was. We already know about the characters, which the first focused so much on, so we get straight to the action. The special- effects are incredible in this, making the first look like a rehearsal. We have great mutant effects galore, and two unbelievable sequences involving a dam breaking, and a jet dog fight accompanied by a crowd of tornados.
Nightcrawler’s teleportation effect is very well constructed in this. In the comics, his teleportation is followed by a BAMF! Sound after every move, so the filmmakers are able to orchestrate it well. The fights in this are very well choreographed, bringing upon a lot of great fight scenes, my favorite being the first ten minutes of the movie where Nightcrawler raids the White House. The entire cast is back again from the first, some being featured more than others. Hugh Jackman gives a better performance in this, showing he’s adjusted to the role of Logan, doing some incredible action sequences, my favorite being when he walks through the hall slicing and dicing his way through soldiers (Man, was I jumping in my seat!)
Hugh is on- key with the character of Wolverine, looking the role perfectly and giving an electric performance. Alan Cumming, one of the better actors of our time, and one of my favorites, is perfect as Nightcrawler, my favorite X-men character. He is able to switch modes throughout the movie without hesitation; he can turn scary, charming, and quirky all at once, and makes his character very likeable. He’s the first heavily religious character in a movie that didn’t make me want to vomit. He pulls off some incredible feats throughout the movie and Alan Cumming is able to take the role on without a flaw. The creature effects for Nightcrawler are phenomenal, making him look exactly like the comic character. Famke Janssen, reprising her role as Jean Grey once again, is really good in this and provides most of the dramatic acting in the movie, beefing up her role, setting the stage for a major development in her character and in the X-men storyline. Many X-fans highly attuned to the storyline (i.e. me) from the X-men comics will automatically know what is happening, but audiences might need some explaining.
Rebecca Romjin Stamos as Mystique also has a better more intricate role in the movie, helping the team and comes off as a more seductive and skilled warrior. I would have loved to see she and Yuriko go at it, but I nitpick. Rogue, played by Anna Paquin also helps to provide some of the dramatic tension, appearing more in the movie, but, unfortunately, doesn’t improve as a character. The film makers introduce two new mutants, along with Nightcrawler; one being Bobby Drake a. k. a Iceman (Shawn Ashford) who controls ice from his hands and serves as Rogue’s very protective boyfriend along with the vicious fire- controlling mutant called Pyro played by Aaron Stanford who also vies for Rogue and has a dark side. Brian Cox is a great villain in this, giving off a lot of ferocity in his character. He represents the human opposition side to the mutant issue; so, now, there’s the peaceful movement by Professor X, the violent movement by Magneto, and the human movement represented by Stryker which clashes among each other.
I felt more threatened by him than I did Magneto, because he was slimy and spineless but also managed to be tactful and skilled. I was excited throughout the entire movie; the action begins immediately, and manages to tell a story meanwhile along with many interesting characters and plot twists. Each character is as cool as the next, and there is great depth and symbolism among the plot. The movie’s underlying message is prejudice and racism and accepting who we are as a minority; the funniest scene in the movie is when Bobby reveals himself to his awestruck parents, demonstrating his power to his mother. She then blurts out, “Have you tried… not being a mutant?” This was a hilarious line that is often blurted by people who see something new in their loved one’s life. This line prompted a lady next to me to reply, “That’s like asking if you tried not being black.” Truly profound words.
Like the comic books, this movie is bombarded with a range of numerous characters which makes it nearly impossible to keep up. The story is unable to focus on the main characters, so the plot is scattered around giving the best mutants less screen time and the least uninteresting plots more time. Cyclops, my favorite character, is taken out of commission halfway through the movie so he’s barely in this having a combined total screen time of twenty minutes. Professor X, though being the leader, is not in this as much as I wanted him to be. He’s the driving force behind the plot and the mutant’s mission and should be there to motivate them. Storm, as the first movie, is barely in this, only having certain moments in the movie; never truly have a plot of her own except when she interacts with Nightcrawler. I felt this sequel should have focused on the original mutants from the first but introduces even more characters, making the plot seem more crowded.
I could understand Bryan Singer’s point of view, though; you have to give the fan boys what they want while making this appeal to the general audience. We have the main plot with Stryker which is dramatic and very interesting along with the love triangle between Scott/Jean/Logan which is not as deep as the comics, along with a hinted love triangle between Bobby/Rogue/Pyro that wasn’t very interesting to begin with. The plot is pretty paper thin, so it adds with it a lot of little sub-plots with the characters combined with each other. I found it difficult to stay focused on the characters or the events occurring in the movie with everything switching around quickly. For the third movie, Bryan Singer may introduce even more mutants to the mix of already crowded cast, but I’m pumped. A truly superior sequel to the original, bringing incredible special- effects, great new characters, and a great story. This managed to live up to all my expectations and then some.