Review 68: X2

 

X2 is an amazing sequel in almost every way possible, plot, scale, villain, depth you name it.

Colonel William Stryker (Brian Cox) brainwashes and questions the imprisoned Magneto about Professor Xavier's mutant-locating machine, Cerebro. Stryker attacks the X-Mansion, and brainwashes Xavier into locating every mutant on the planet to kill them. The X-Men must team up with the Brotherhood and prevent Stryker's worldwide genocide.

The plot is great mixture of intensity, great action and depth

The themes of Freedom and Racial Prejudice are carried over from the first film, but the're given a deeper emotional residance ecause of the more carefully crafted characterisiotion and thrilling, complex and interesting story.

The argument from the first is furthered in X2: Should Mutants simply accept that mutants are in charge and find a way to live peacefully in that world as Professor X would have it or should they take over because they're the next stage in evolution which makes them superior as Magneto would have it? Stryker brings a whole new side to the argument; a third party.

 We've also got some really great character moments as well e.g. there's a scene were Iceman and Wolverine have a conversation before Stryker's forces attack the X-Mansion, which puts the audience at ease before the attack.

In regards to comic book inspirations, the film primarily draws heavily from the Ultimate X-Men storyline by Mark Millar and Adam Kubert as well as the graphic novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson.

Also I think the films plot does a better job at examining the debate about the mutants from both the humans and the mutants perspectives than the first film did.

Returning director Bryan Singer's directing is precise. One of the many great things that Singer is take time with certain scenes and characters, a short, quieter scene between Wolverine and Iceman is followed by Stryker assult on the X-Mansion

the score by John Ottman is brilliant mixture of bombastic action and emotion, the cinematography is excellent, there are some great moments of suspense, the production design is breathtaking, the costumes are striking, the make up is rich, the special effects are way better than the first film, the action scenes are thrilling and violent and the ending was superb.

The acting also improved as well, Hugh Jackman gives another excellent performance as Wolverine, over the course of the film, Logan hopes to get answers from Stryker regarding his mysterious and traumatic past and ultimatly decides that protecting the world from people like Stryker is more important than finding out where he came from.

 

 

Aaron Stanford is Pyro, Ian McKellen really magnitises as Magneto in some really good scenes,

 

Brian Cox is a superb villain Stryker is basicaly a human version of Magneto. He sees humans as the superior race and mutans mutants as the disease that needs to be whipped out. It's a perfect parralel because whilist Stryker is afraid of mutants, Magneto is afraid of him. They're both motivated by fear and revenge. Humans have repeatedly hurt Magneto, first as a child in Nazi concentration camps and now as an adult in plastic prison being probed by Stryker like an animal to get information on Cerebro. Mutants have hurt Stryker, hallucinations caused by his son Jason drove his wife to suicide.

 

William Stryker, I'm not saying he's one of the best villains ever but he's a metaphor for emotional themes that are present in the world today and he's a much more realistic villain and he's portrayed as the third side of a cone, Xavier being the one who wants mutants accepted into society, Magneto, mutants take over as they are the next stage of evolution and Stryker, commit genocide, and hes given emotional depth so even if he is a monster we care about what happens to him and understand why he's doing what he's doing.

 

Stryker and Magneto are both villains but at the same time, they're enemies of each other 

In this film Magneto and Stryker are presented as two sides of the same coin and Professor X is caught in the middle. He believes that both men are monsters and in the end, his X-Men have to stop both of them.

 

Alan Cumming proved to be a fun addition to the X-Men playing Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler

 

If any character didn't quite receive the attention they deserved in this film, it was easily Scott Summers/Cyclops (James Marsden). He was drastically underused in this film being taken out and captured by Stryker. This is especially jaring considinering he's supposed to be the teams leader.

He never really seemed to have a overarching character arc of his own and never really came into his own as a result.

 

and the rest of the cast is brilliant.

X2 is a deeper, more emtional, complex, thrilling and ultimately bigger than its predecessor -- and a benchmark for comic sequels in general, 5/5.

The Anonymous Critic