Hey Ciaoers. I'm on a film streak at the moment, reviewing most of my DVD collection, but this is a film I keep watching over and over again and never seem to get bored of it! It's called:
X-MEN 2
***ACTORS AND ACTRESSES***
Patrick Stewart - Star Trek Films, The Prince of Egypt, A Christmas Carol
Ian McKellan - Lord of the Rings movies, Rasputin, Bent
Halle Berry - Cat Woman, Die Another Day, Gothika
Hugh Jackman - Kate and Leopold, Van Helsing, Someone Like You
James Marsden - Sugar & Spice, Gossip, Heights
Famke Janssen - Hide and Seek, Made, I-spy
Alan Cumming - Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2, Pits
Rebecca Romijn-Stamos - Godsend, Femme Fatale, Rollerball
Brian Cox - Troy, Sin, Manhunt
***CHARACTERS***
For those who have never seen this film I think I tell you about the characters and what they do.
Professor Charles Xavier
Played by actor Patrick Stewart. Professor Xavier is confined to a wheelchair but not in his mind. Xavier has the power to read thoughts and make people do exactly what he wants them to do. No one knows how old the Professor is and no one likes to ask. Xavier is the wisest of all the X-Men and leads them in their continuing stuggle.
Ororo Munroe/Storm
Played by actress Halle Berry. Storm (as she'll be known from now on) came to Xavier with a very destructive power. Storm has the ability to manipulate the weather at will. She can create monsoons, cyclones, rain storms, thunder, lightning, fog, anything to do with the weather. Storm was one of Xavier's first students and he taught her to control her power. When she uses her powers, Storm's eyes go white and her hair is also white as a result.
Scott Summers/Cyclops
Played by actor James Marsden. Cyclops has a very dangerous power. When he opens his eyes, a powerful beam of energy shoots from his eyes and doesn't stop until he closes them. This beam of energy is so powerful that if Cyclops was to open his eyes, he could punch a whole through a mountain. As
a result, Xavier made Cyclops some special glasses that he must wear at all times around the mansion and on missions, he wears a special mask that can allow him to use his power safely, under his control.
Dr. Jean Gray
Played by actress Famke Janssen. Jean Gray doesn't have a special name like the others. Jean has two powers. She can read people's minds like Xavier but she isn't nearly as strong as him. Jean has telekenesis, the ability to move things with your mind. Jean takes care of the X-Men when they get hurt or sick as well as all the other children who live in the mansion. Jean also has a romantic relationship with Cyclops.
Logan/Wolverine
Played by actor Hugh Jackman. Wolverine has a dark past, which he struggles to remember. Wolverine has a unique ability but also another characterisitic. Wolverine's mutant power is the ability to regenerate himself. If he gets cut, scarred, shot in the head, his body can heal itself quickly. For some reason, Wolverine also had an indestructable material called Adimantium grafted throughout his entire skeletal structure. To utilise this, powerful metal claws come out of his hands which he uses to fight.
Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler
Played by actor Alan Cumming. Nightcrawler has a very unique appearance and power. Nightcrawler has bright blue skin and hair and has tatoos all over his body. His special power is teleporting. He can appear and disappear at will and is a skilled fighter. Unlike the others who look relatively normal, Nightcrawler has always been feared for the way he looks. He has a strong belief in God and his faith is what has kept him going.
Mystique
Played by actress Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Mystique is one of the bad guys. She is also bright blue in appearance and her special power is that she can shapeshift into anyone she pleases. She can imitate voices and can be an exact replicate of anyone she choses. Because of this she remains a stealthy opponent and has superior martial art skills.
Eric Lencherr/Magneto
Played by actor Ian Mckellen. Magneto is the big baddy in this movie. Magneto has the power to control anything metal. He can manipulate metal into anyshape now matter how big the source. He can even control metal in powder form. Magneto believes that no human will ever except a mutant with powers and that something needs to be done about it.
Col. William Stryker
Played by actor Brian Cox. Stryker is a baddy. He has a long military history and seems to have a personal vendetta against mutants, not being one himself. Who knows what he'll do to 'cure' the mutant problem.
Smaller characters are:
Rogue
A student at the mansion who has the ability to absorb a person's life force or in the case of a mutant, their powers for a short time if she comes into direct contact with their skin.
Bobby/Iceman
Another student who dates Rogue. Anything that Iceman touches will turn cold or to ice. He can also project his power to put out things like a fire.
John/Pyro
Again, another student of Xavier. Pyro has the ability to manipulate fire, although he can't create it. He carries around a lighter that he uses to set his power off.
***PLOT***
Every so often the human evolution process leaps forward and a new advancement into the human race appears. This advancement has come into the form of mutants, humans with special abilities that no human can do, walking through walls, teleporting, telekenesis and many more besides.
Mutants are feared and most of the time hated, because humans see them as a threat to society. They fear what they do not understand and they fear the mutant's powers. So for many years mutants have lived in hiding, scattered and divided. There are some mutants who just want to be accepted and some that believe they are far superior to humans and want them out of the way.
But what will boil down to is a war. One mutant who hopes to stop a war is Professor Charles Xavier.
Charles Xavier runs a school for mutants, although to humans it appears to be a normal prep school. Mutants come to the mansion, study in lessons, live and develop their powers, surrounded by people who understand them and can help them. Here they are safe. But there are those who want a war with humans, namely Magneto.
After attacking humans in the libery island incident in the last movie, Magneto has been locked away in a plastic prison with no escape. But now there is someone else who wishes to destoy all mutants and he is a human. His name is Col. William Stryker.
Col. William Striker has been working on the 'mutant phenomenon' since it was discovered. He wants to rid the world of mutants and has his own secrets for wanting to do so.
When Xavier and Magneto were friends, they built a machine that only Xavier could use because of his power, called Cerebro. When Xavier is plugged into the machine he can locate every mutant on the plant and every human. Unfortunatley because Xavier is such a powerful mutant, if he concentrates hard enough on a particular group, he could kill them........which is just what Stryker wants.
So when Xavier is kidnapped by Stryker, it's up to the remaining X-Men along with a few new additions, teaming up with Magneto to find Xavier and to locate Stryker's base and stop him from killing all the mutants in the world, but there are a few surprises along the way.
Want to know more? Watch the film!
***MY PERSONAL OPINION***
I thought this was a great movie. I was a huge fan of the first one and the second is even better. I've never read the Marvel comic books that first created the X-Men, but to be honest I'm not a comic book fan. When I saw the first film I was floored with the mutants and all their special abilities, so when new characters turned up in the next movie, I loved them as well!
I can't flaw the casting because it was so great, however, I have received news that there will be a third X-Men movie (yay), but that Halle Berry will not be playing her usual character of Storm. Storm was my favourite character because of her power! It's so cool! You get pissed off with someone and you can just zap em' with a bolt of lightning!
The story is even better because there is so much in it. Most of the characters go through stages of personal growth, discovering things about themselves, relationships, even if they don't want to. It gives you a familarity with them and their lives. There of course is the main plot, but there are lots of little subplots going on around it.
The music really suits the film down to the ground. It really sets the movie which is what a good film track should do and it certainly doesn't put you to sleep. The action sequences are the best bits because you get to see the mutants using their powers. A few martial sequences but the special effects is what is really gonna grab your eye.
Can you tell I like this movie? LOL. Even the critics did!
"Special effects take a bow in this lively sequel that sacrifices narrative pleasure for flashy technique."
Jeanne Aufmuth, PALO ALTO WEEKLY
"For the most part, the effects are top-drawer, and the story creates a mild undertow of emotion."
Robert Denerstein, DENVER ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
"Double your pleasure with this visually stunning and thematically inventive sci-fi spectacular where mutant humans battle the zealous forces of law and order."
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH
Now for the boring techie stuff!
***TECHIE BITS***
Title: X-Men 2/ X2/ X-Men United
Director: Bryan Singer
Running Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Certificate: 12
DVD/VHS: Only seen this movie on DVD including a two disc collectors edition.
Price: For the single disc edition from amazon £8.97
Where To Buy: Amazon for single disc edition and HMV for both editions.
Trailers: Several
Soundtrack: Unknown
Posters: Several
***DVD EXTRAS***
I only have the single disc edition which only lets you select the scenes and fiddle with audio and subtitles. Beyond that I don't actually know what is included on the two disc collectors edition!
Have a blast and Merry Xmas kids!
Happy trails.
Leila :) 
![X-Men 2 Special Edition DVD (Two Disc Set)[2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78518491.jpg)
![X-Men 2 [Special Edition]-DVD](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/99007250.jpg)
by (15%):
by (2%):
21.02.2005 15:08
I remember watching the cartoons when I was little but I don't think the movies would interest me. Kate xx
09.01.2005 15:24
I loved this movie- it certainly did the comics justice!! But, it's a pity they didnt play on the phoenix storyline with jean gray, where she saves the universe etc. in the comics and cartoons! another good review! zedd
03.01.2005 11:36
Brilliant review! Well worth an E. --Chris--