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Member since:14.03.2003
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Bryan Singer must have been licking his lips and emitting evil laughs every few minutes between the release of X-Men and the filming of this sequel. His cast (who were signed up to return for at least one sequel) were going to make him big bucks on the 2nd installment of the comic book adapatation. Since X-Men, Halle Berry has won an Oscar, Ian McKellan has played Gandalf, Hugh Jackman has hit the bigtime with films like Swordfish and Kate & Leopold, and Famke Janssen has....had her hair cut? (Ok, she was in I Spy, but Owen Wilson stole the show in that mediocre film..)
I'm one of those sad people who was waiting with baited breath for this to come out. I fell in love with Hugh Jackman by force after the first, living with two of the biggest Jackman-ites in the known universe. Not that it took much pursuasion, have you SEEN this man's arms? For a year and a half I have been re-watching the first film and drooling over the trailors on
the X-Men 1.5 DVD, waiting for the 2 hour Hugh-fest that is X-Men 2. I even have two X2 movie posters on my wall at this very moment.
Don't commit me just yet, please.
Before you see this film, I would recomment renting or buying X-Men, the first in the series, to get an idea of what's going on. It's not necessary but it will clear up a few queries you might have, and introduces the characters in more detail.
In X-Men 2, we meet all the old characters:
First the X-Men themselves - Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Wolverine/Logan (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Cyclops (James Marsden) and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). We also have extended roles for Rogue/Marie (Anna Paquin), Iceman/Bobby (Shawn Ashmore) and Pyro/John (Aaron Stanford). We also meet new-boy Nightcrawler/Kurt, played fantastically by one of the world's best character actors, the lovely Alan Cumming.
Then there's the 'baddies' from the last movie, the Brotherhood, lead by Magneto/Eric (Ian McKellen) and his only surviving cronie from X-Men, Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos).
Without giving too much of the plot away, in this movie, the two rival factions of the mutant world have to come together to fight a common enemy in General William Stryker and his assistant, Yuriko (aka Lady Deathstrike). He is fighting against both mutants in general and Professor Xavier's mutant school. But it's not as simple as that, of course. One of the strings from the first film is followed up in this - how exactly Logan came to have the indestructible element 'adamantium' grafted to his entire skeleton. Are there more like him? Well, what do you think....?
This is, of course, mainly an action film with an unbelievable plot that ties together lots of great special effects and long action sequences. But more than that, it actually has a fairly good script with some funny moments. Try not to laugh when Wolverine, Iceman, Rogue and Pyro end up at Iceman (Bobby's) parents house and when asked what he teaches at the school, Woverine replies "Art". There are also a good few cleverly scripted moments between Bobby and Logan as they 'fight' over the affections of Rogue. Halle's accent changes with every line she speaks (I think she's meant to be Jamaican, but you'll understand why I wasn't sure...) but the scenes between her and Nightcrawler are as touching as they can be in an action movie.
One of the great things about the X-Men movies is you really get a feel of the 'world' of the mutants. They hark back to the original Batman movies, highly stylised and crafted to give a real 'atmosphere'. Lots of black, dark blue and silver, sludgy underground lairs and great deep pits of nothingness. The sets are cleverly stylised and there's not a spot of yellow spandex anywhere. It's all leather and multiple X's wherever you turn. One of the best scenes is Eric/Magneto's escape from prison - a clever re-working of a similarly crafted scene in the first movie.
This is a film you go and see for thrills and a good two hours being entertained. It's not really a thinker or a thought provoker. I'm not a huge action film fan but I thoroughly enjoyed this. And not just because of Hugh Jackman (though it helped...) The plot, the action and the script are all better than the first, it's nice to see the extended roles for the younger, more interesting characters and less of cyclops and storm (it's almost like Halle Berry is just there so they could have extra special effects and two Oscar winner and two bond girls...). The new characters are signed on for sequels, but it remains to be seen if the superstar status older cast members will return. I hope so, because you can't have X-men without wolverine...!
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Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
I also disliked the ending, it was a little annoying. But hey now we know thats not the end of Jean. Good review lots of detail. Keep it up
BabyGirl 17.02.2004 22:35
Hated the ending, it made me sad! :( Anyway I hear from my comic geek brother she's not 'really' dead, wahay! Bring on X-men 3 ;) xx
eve6kicksass 14.12.2003 09:11
I thought the first film was ok, but after reading this outstanding op I must see the sequel....everyone told me it is even better than the first one!!! Chris xxx
X-Men 2picks up almost directly whereX-Menleft off: misguided super-villain Magneto (Ian ... more
McKellen) is still a prisoner of the US government, heroic bad-boy Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is up in Canada investigating his mysterious origin, and the events at ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
X-Men 2picks up almost directly whereX-Menleft off: misguided super-villain Magneto (Ian ... more
McKellen) is still a prisoner of the US government, heroic bad-boy Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is up in Canada investigating his mysterious origin, and the events at ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
The time has come for those who are different to stand united... The X-Men have to band ... more
together to find a mutant assassin who has made an attempt on the President's life while the Mutant Academy at Westchester is attacked by military forces promptin...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Hatred and distrust brew between human and mutantkind. An unprovoked mutant attack on the ... more
President gives General William Stryker (Brian Cox) his long awaited opportunity to wage all-out war against the mutants. A war that would leave only one race vic...
Advantages: Great Cast, wicked Speacile Effects, Deeper than Original Disadvantages: Halle Berry Criminally Underused, Maybe To Long, and Script Flounders At End
JayHall1991 06.10.2004 (06.10.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of X-Men 2 (DVD)
![X-Men 2 Special Edition DVD (Two Disc Set) [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78518491.jpg "X-Men 2 Special Edition DVD (Two Disc Set) [2003]")
Jul 15th, 2003
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