X2: THE MOVIE ADVANCE REVIEW

[Eric J. Moreels]

<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/movies/XMen2KA1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/movies/XMen2KA1t.jpg" align=left alt="X-Men 2 movie poster"></a>Reviewer: Eric J. Moreels, x-fan@bigpond.net.au
Quick Rating: X-cellent!

Directed by: Bryan Singer
Screenplay by: Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris
Story by: Bryan Singer, David Hayter & Zak Penn
Produced by: Lauren Shuler Donner & Ralph Winter
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Bruce Davison, Anna Paquin, Kelly Hu, Aaron Stanford, Shawn Ashmore

The X-Men have had many adjectives describing them over the years: amazing, astonishing, x-treme, ultimate, and, of course, uncanny. None of them, however, not even combined, can come close to describing 20th Century Fox's mutant movie sequel, X2. Director Bryan Singer and co. have surpassed all expectations, delivering a film that is bigger, longer, and much, much better than its predecessor.

Whilst the first film served primarily as an introduction to the characters, their world, and their beliefs, X2 launches headlong into its story, which picks up shortly after the events of the first X-Men film. Grander in scope from its predecessor, X2 picks up on several subplots from the first film, such as the Cyclops/Jean Grey/Wolverine love triangle, the attraction between Iceman and Rogue, and the relationship between Magneto and Xavier. Once all the pieces are in play, the film shifts into high gear, pausing only briefly for the occasional light-humoured or tender moment. Some of the best moments of the film are the interactions between the characters, lifting X2 to a level high above your average action flick.

The film also boasts some downright beautiful locations and scenery, making it a visual feast. The special effects serve to enhance the story rather than overwhelm it, helping make these fantastic characters and their amazing abilities all the more believable. Cerebro, in particular, has had an upgrade in terms of FX from the first film, and the result is breathtaking. Each characters' abilities are well defined and visually striking, especially those of Pyro, Storm, and Jean Grey.

<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/movies/stills24.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/movies/stills24t.jpg" align=right alt="Patrick Stewart as Professor X and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in a scene from X2"></a>One of the main gripes many fans had with the first film was that not all the characters managed to get as much time in the spotlight as others. Not so here. Granted, the film focuses on Wolverine and his search for his past, but all the major characters - and even some of the minor ones such as Colossus and Siryn - get their chance to shine. Despite the size of the cast, the end result is a well-balanced mix. The stand-out, though, has to be Alan Cumming's portrayal of the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler. The big screen version of the character looks, acts, "bamfs", and talks as though he were lifted straight from the pages of Giant-Size X-Men #1. Deeply emotional and wonderfully complex, Cumming's Nightcrawler comes across as more human than some of the film's actual human characters.

The climax of the film will be one that noone who sees the film will quickly forget. X2 is a much darker film than its predecessor. Wolverine, especially, is far more ruthless and deadly than he was in X-Men. The much-touted fight between Wolverine and Deathstrike is incredibly brutal and intense, and will surely be talked about for some time to come. The climax culminates in a scene intentionally omitted from both the official novelization and comic book adaptation; one that will have fans reeling at its impact and leave no doubt as to what the plot of X3 will most likely be!

Die-hard X-fans will find the film a treat thanks to a slew of comic book references, such as cameo appearances like the Beast and name-drops like Jamie Madrox, but you'll have to be quick to spot them! X2 is a thrill-a-minute ride with knock-your-socks-off action and heart-warming characterization. Even if you're not a fan, however, there's plenty in the film for you no matter your cinematic tastes. Action, adventure, suspense, intrigue, romance, humour, and tragedy - X2 has it all!

OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/movfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/movfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/movfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/movfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/movfull.jpg

X2 is due to open in theaters around the world from April 30.

[nightshade]

Wow!!! All I've heard about this movie is good! I can't wait! Only four more days for me...

[Benjamin Ong]

Nightcrawler! Nightcrawler! Nightcrawler! Can't wait to see this movie over and over and over again!

[Draggor]

Lucky you Eric. I even more impation to see this now. I'll so be there first day.

[Eric J. Moreels]

Originally posted by Benjamin Ong
Nightcrawler! Nightcrawler! Nightcrawler!

Damn straight, Ben. I can't get over how spot-on Cumming's Nightcrawler was to the comic book version!

[Cloak]

oooo. so, is Storms role actually larger this time or isn't it?

[Benjamin Ong]

Originally posted by Eric J. Moreels
Damn straight, Ben. I can't get over how spot-on Cumming's Nightcrawler was to the comic book version!

Some say the movie version is even better than the guy in the comics ;)

[Rogue1969]

Hoping my comic shop wins the X2 window display contest and gives me a free ticket to the early release so I don't have to go insane waiting for May 2nd. :D :D :D

I need a Hugh injection. I haven't seen any movies with him lately....and miss my favorite beserker..;) ;)

[Stormy]

:excited: :excited: Nine more days... :excited:

[ReaperFett]

All I hear is there is less Cyclops. So to be honest, I'm not that hyped right now. I mean, people said he had too small a role last time, so what do they do? Add or make into a big character five new main characters (Iceman, Pyro, Deathstrike, Stryker, Nightcrawler). I mean, I loved the original, but it still felt like Wolverine: The movie, with the X-Men (Which are so great in the comics due to being a TEAM) supporting him.

[Eric J. Moreels]

Originally posted by halo
oooo. so, is Storms role actually larger this time or isn't it?

Most definitely a larger role for our favorite weather witch! :yes:

Originally posted by ReaperFett
All I hear is there is less Cyclops.

Well then you're hearing wrong. Cyke definitely does more this time out, especially in the big climax!

[anthomaniac1023]

Wow, I think I've yet to hear a negative review of this. :D:excited:

[spinarakboi]

Cool I can't wait either. I don't really know what to expect from this I just hope I'm not dissapointed so I'm trying to get to excited. Although I can't wait to see my bamfy blue friend.

Edit: I also have to say that I think it's so cool that even though like every actor in the movie is someone famous they have kept quiet about that and haven't over played that and turned into just "a movie with a lot of famous people in it" like the Batman movies have become. I mean in the previews they could say "Halle Berry" but instead they "Storm" which i think is just a really nice touch..

[Zachary J. Morrison]

Excellent review, Eric. I enjoyed reading your X2 review and see what you had to say. I can't wait to see this debut. I want to see it on opening day, but no theaters are playing it late Thursday night.

[dredweezul]

NIGHTCRAWLER !NIGHTCRAWLER!! NIGHTCRAWLER!!!!!! *BAMFs around happily*

I have loved this guy from GS#1...and Alan is one of my favorite people too! *pant* I am SOOOOOOOO wanting to see this film

*Dredz repines beside the theatre door*

I sounds so fabulous! I am certain that Cumming will win awards, as will the rest of the cast and crew. I think, that I have been waiting for this film since I was born.:D

[*Rogue*]

Im glad we got that "love tryangle" thing back in order. On some of the other threads I had heard about 3 differant "tryangles". And Im really glad its between logan, jean, and scott. That should be good. Oh, I can't wait. Im gonna be there the first day.(I think, maybe second. I don't have a liscends so I can't really drive me there.....legally.....hehe)

*Rogue*

[Sug@h]

NIGHTCRAWLER!! *hyperventilates* Need...Kurt...Now!

It's too far away!

[Steven Paul]

I can't wait! Great review!

I'm curious about Siryn's role, cause in the novelization she actaually has a very big role for a minor character and I'm hoping a lot that is on screen as well! I'm just curious as can be about the minor characters, lol, even Jubilee who i'm not a big fan of.

I can't wait to see Nightcrawler, Storm, Jean Grey, and Deathstrike!!!!!

[Lord Morbid]

Can you give us a clue as to what the climax consists of.Be very vague!

Also is Kelly Hu's character known as Lady Deathsrike,or simply Deathstrike?

How shocked will we be by this movie??

Does Storm get better lines??I bet that Oscar helped conduct some electricity for her character!

[*Rogue*]

Originally posted by Reyes_LeBeau
I can't wait! Great review!

I'm curious about Siryn's role, cause in the novelization she actaually has a very big role for a minor character and I'm hoping a lot that is on screen as well! I'm just curious as can be about the minor characters, lol, even Jubilee who i'm not a big fan of.

I can't wait to see Nightcrawler, Storm, Jean Grey, and Deathstrike!!!!!

Deathstrike is gonna be one cool lady! Well, I know shes bad and all, but she looks like she can really kick butt! I cant wait to see her and logans fight scene. Oh, everyone knows there's gonna be one! I saw a close-up of her hands/claws, and they look awsome! And I like her nail pollish too.

*Rogue*

[rolltidewall]

Dang it... This is why I'm gonna be poor.

I'm calling it now.. X2 makes at least 103 million first weekend.
:D

[Alex Guillen]

Eric, damm you're lucky.:D I can't wait for this movie, i want to see it so bad. You didn't spiol too much and it's just a great review to wet our appetite of the all mighty X.

[Inferno Cow]

What did I hear about surprise ending? Do I smell a new villian...?

I am so glad I took next friday off from work, might even skip school too!

[Dark_Phoenix]

Jean Grey:lick: Stupid me, I couldn't resist looking at the comic book! Oh well, I still cannot wait to see it, at least once(probably more)

[venombytes]

Originally posted by Eric J. Moreels
Well then you're hearing wrong. Cyke definitely does more this time out, especially in the big climax!

That's great news. I think that rumor of less Cycke came about because he's not on the purple X poster.

[Wolverine]

hooray 7 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rugez]

YEAH, excited to see Jubilee!!!

EAT FIREWORKS!!!















Gamecube's by far the coolest!!!

[JimalDP]

This movie is gonna rock!!!!!!!! Big time!!!!
Cant wait to see Magneto again, i loved him in the first film, too bad Toad isnt back, i thought he was the best in the first film just didnt have a big enough part!! Hey Bryan if your reading !BRING! !BACK! !TOAD! , come one!

[thewrite1]

That's great news. I think that rumor of less Cycke came about because he's not on the purple X poster.

I read somewhere that James Marsden was upset because Hugh Jackman had a bigger role in both movies than he did, and wouldn't come back to X3 unless he had a bigger part.

I can't really blame him. I think he portrays Scott excellently.


Also, me too want Toad! Bring back Toad!

[CommonSense]

Originally posted by thewrite1


I read somewhere that James Marsden was upset because Hugh Jackman had a bigger role in both movies than he did, and wouldn't come back to X3 unless he had a bigger part.

I can't really blame him. I think he portrays Scott excellently.



Well, when he get a Oscar he can talk more sh1t.:)

[Brytanica1]

What did I hear about surprise ending?

Heh. I know what the surprise is and all I can say is...


Oh
My
God


Did NOT anticipate that in any way, shape, or form.



But I definitely think it tells us what the 3rd movie will be about.

[Eric J. Moreels]

Originally posted by Lord Morbid
Can you give us a clue as to what the climax consists of.Be very vague!

Not without totally spoiling it, no, sorry! Suffice it to say it's a real shocker!

Also is Kelly Hu's character known as Lady Deathsrike,or simply Deathstrike?

She's referred to only as Yuriko Oyama in the film.

How shocked will we be by this movie??

Very!

Does Storm get better lines??I bet that Oscar helped conduct some electricity for her character!

Storm's role in X2 is a vast improvement over her role in X-Men. Not to mention they fixed that pesky hair problem this time around! :p

Originally posted by kotsin
Eric, damm you're lucky.:D I can't wait for this movie, i want to see it so bad. You didn't spiol too much and it's just a great review to wet our appetite of the all mighty X.

Glad you liked it! It wasn't easy writing a review of the film this far ahead of its actual release without spoiling too much!

Originally posted by venombytes
That's great news. I think that rumor of less Cycke came about because he's not on the purple X poster.

There's actually three different versions of that poster, vb. Take a look at the one attached to the review as he's on that one! :yes:

I think people will be impressed by Marsden as Cyclops in X2, especially towards the end of the film. I thought he was great!

[Tarl]

I hope the surprise ending has something to do with.....THE DARK PHEONIX!

[f4faith]

Originally posted by venombytes
That's great news. I think that rumor of less Cycke came about because he's not on the purple X poster.

I don't think it was that much a rumor. I've seen other recent reviews and some do say Cyke's part is reduced. I've read the book and though I suspected a changed ending for awhile - as well as I have a really good guess what it will be about (a story that do not have as high a regard for as others though it was good) - I still think with an improved ending Cyke doesn't have has much time in this one nor do I feel Rogue does and she's still a fairly whimpy character who gets even less time and still spends it more with one character than with being Rogue.

Also for those of us who really could live without Wolverine and would rather give some of his time to Gambit (who may or may not get a cameo) and Beast's cameo, I will likely still be disappointed in the movie.

However, I do feel it certainly won't be as much disappointment as I had in the first movie which I actually hardly liked at all, and I do look forward to two characters in this movie. Nightcrawler and Mystique. Everything I've seen of Mystique so far has just been great and Nighty really feels for the first time like a character that did get translated nearly whole hog to the screen as compared to the butchering they did with Rogue.

That with more action and Magneto, I think will most certainly make this a better movie than the first by far.

[strangerx]

To be honest, this was the only review I needed to read. If a fan of the X-Men like Eric was blown away by this flick, then obviously it's going to be amazing. I so can't wait to see this movie.

[Arachne]

If people are loking for more pictures from the movie check out any magazine stand. I do all the mags at my Borders and the past week and half, EVERYTHING is X-men. There's a whole mag about the movie. Jean, Storm, and Mystique are on the cover of Glamour. Every movie magazine has something about the movie- some with posters! But I'm finding the best articles are in the gay/lesbian magazines. And I'm not talking about just interview with Ian mcKellan or Alan Cummings. Their articles go alittle more indepth into the characters and the thought behind the story than alot of the movie magazines that just want to talk about Mystique's five hour make up job.

But whatever your interest, the X-Men are all over my magazines, making me one happy little retail drone :D

[Eric J. Moreels]

Originally posted by strangerx
To be honest, this was the only review I needed to read. If a fan of the X-Men like Eric was blown away by this flick, then obviously it's going to be amazing. I so can't wait to see this movie.

Wow, high praise indeed! Thanks sx!

[ReaperFett]

That's great news. I think that rumor of less Cycke came about because he's not on the purple X poster.

One of the many highlights of my holiday in DC for me was standing on a street complaining about the poster on a bus. Funny argument :)




I'm intrested to see what they do with Pyro though. I dont really care about the movie Rogue or Iceman, but Pyro had some great lines in the various clips around. Plus having a fun power :D

[ChaosPhoenix]

Wow, Eric- you are lucky! But you still have to take all your friends and family to see it and watch it 5 times when the movie officially comes out. :D

Does Jean smile more in this movie. I hope so, Famke has such an awesome smile. I hope Jean gets a good role. I think she will.

[ronin_jw]

tommorrow, yeah

[Linsey Duncan]

How unbelievably cool. I mean, just make it so I can't wait, why don't you? ;)

[*Rogue*]

Originally posted by Tarl
I hope the surprise ending has something to do with.....THE DARK PHEONIX!

That would be sooooooooooo cool! Well, everyone is saying, "there will soooo be a X3" so, ya nevah know!

*Rogue*

[Roguefan]

I'm glad to hear that it's getting so many positive reviews. I was afraid that it would suffer form terminal sequelitis - something which I definately would not like.

Next Thursday night for me!!!!:D :D :D :D

[Mindseye]

YESSS!!!!GO NIGHTCRAWLER!!!!

Mr.Kurt Wagner has been my favorite comic character for most of my life and Im thrilled with this review!

Nice review Eric you got me excited without giving major spoilers!:D :D :D

Uh....Im new btw....

[xstormfan]

i am so excited i can't wait till the 2Nd!!!!

[ReaperFett]

Nor me. But We get it on the 1st :D

[Eric J. Moreels]

Originally posted by *Rogue*
Well, everyone is saying, &quot;there will soooo be a X3&quot; so, ya nevah know!

Given the very last scene of X2, it would be a crime if there was no X3!!!

Originally posted by Mindseye
Nice review Eric you got me excited without giving major spoilers!:D :D :D

Uh....Im new btw....

Glad you like the review, M, and welcome aboard! :)

[Plasma Charge]

Well, let me just join the choir and say... Great review, Eric!! I've read a few of them, and I like yours the best, and I'm not just kissing up to you.

Well, I hope this movie does mammoth box office. God knows Bryan and the cast and everyone deserves it! I can't wait for next weekend already!!

[*Rogue*]

1 Week for me! Dudes, its not fair that ya'll get to see it before me! :( :( :( Oh well. -- BTW, Great review Eric! NIFTY-COOL!

*Rogue*

[RogueSlayer]

Originally posted by thewrite1


I read somewhere that James Marsden was upset because Hugh Jackman had a bigger role in both movies than he did, and wouldn't come back to X3 unless he had a bigger part.

I can't really blame him. I think he portrays Scott excellently.


Also, me too want Toad! Bring back Toad!


A piece of toast with glasses could portray Scott excellently.

[PhoenixStorm]

Great review! It's the best one that I've read yet. I'm gonna go insane until May 2nd!

[NicholasRogue]

Eric it sounds wonderful so can you tell me (not spoiler) but is Anna Paquin's portrayl of Rogue alot more like her comic book counter part this time around? I'm so excited and I bought your lovely little Encyclopedia with my Easter money to keep me pumped up until the movie comes out! Nice job by the way!:)

[thebigO]

yay!!! i got to go to an exclusive preview so although it comes out in three days i just left the cinema!!




all i will say is YES IT IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE FIRST!!!

ALL THE CHARACTERS GET TO SHINE!!!

LOTS OF NIGHTCRAWLER!!!

ROUGE IS MUCH <ORE LIKE THE COMIC BOOK CHARACTER!!


AND>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


that ending!!!!

bring on x3

[NicholasRogue]

Originally posted by thebigO
yay!!! i got to go to an exclusive preview so although it comes out in three days i just left the cinema!!




all i will say is YES IT IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE FIRST!!!

ALL THE CHARACTERS GET TO SHINE!!!

LOTS OF NIGHTCRAWLER!!!

ROUGE IS MUCH &lt;ORE LIKE THE COMIC BOOK CHARACTER!!


AND&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;


that ending!!!!

bring on x3

so Rogue has a bigger part? lol!

[Wolverine]

this looks so awesome!

[PhoenixStorm]

I'm going insane waiting for X2! I hope it's as good as the book makes it out to be!

[Allison Wright]

This surprise ending everyone is talking about, is it like the book or is it something different?

Originally posted by RogueSlayer



A piece of toast with glasses could portray Scott excellently.

I liked James Marsden's Cyclops, what little there was of him anyway. Loved the way he seemed "above" responding to Wolverine's comments. I hope he gets a more to do in this one.

[Scarecrow's Brain]

Thanks for the review Eric. I'm looking forward to Friday. I just wish I had some more time to take off work so I can hit the theaters early!

However, none of the reviews I've read answer the most important question of all: how many times does Wolverine say "bub"?

Use spoiler space if necessary!;)

sb

[Deathscythe]

YEAH!!!!:D :D :D

Ok boys and girls tomorrow this lucky SOB is going to see X2.
At 9:00p.m Costa Rica local time or 11:00p.m EST thanks to an official contest down here:astound:. Right know I'm still in shock!!!

YEAH!!!!:D :D :D

[Dantez]

Ahhh I' so psyched! I feel it in my bones that this is going to be one hell of a ride for me.

But I really heard that Rogue doesn't have that much more to do than the first time around. And still doesn't really resemble the Rogue of the comics. Well i can understand how her getting the power of flight and strength, etc. would overcrowd this already full plot.
But still....why iceman?? I don't see it. And I heard the actor does a good job with a well written part so I'll withhold comment, but why did they have to make Iceman a Dawson's creek reject? I suspect I'll find that one of the lesser interesting parts. Which is sad because Rogue was always one of my favs.
But of course I haven't seen it yet...couple of days left...argnn..

Oh and I DID find one negative review so far! Yes it's true. But I wouldn't think too much of it. The guy...well I knew neither reviewer nor the mag he wrote for but he sounds....well....Buchanan-y?? He makes several allusions to Ian as a 'queen' and how he expects him to make remarks about Rogue's 'hairdresser' and a pretty out there remark about 'closeted gays' that want to 'take over Hollywood' or something.

Here's the link if someone's curious http://www.rottentomatoes.com/click/movie-10000674/reviews.php?critic=columns&sortby=default&page=1&rid=1129737 but if this pile of dung by an unimaginative bigot is the only naysayer (so far) I'd say the movie may be even better than I think!

[Timmay]

Scarecrow's Brain

However, none of the reviews I've read answer the most important question of all: how many times does Wolverine say "bub"?

I can't remember him saying Bub, but he did say Holy ****.

[Scarecrow's Brain]

Originally posted by Timmay

I can't remember him saying Bub, but he did say Holy ****.

No "bub"'s?! What a travesty! Well, then I'm not going to go see it...

more than ten times or so...

I can't believe how good Nightcrawler looks in the promos. It really looks like they nailed the teleport effect.

How much screen time do Jubilee and Siryn get?

sb

[Cloak]

umm, I'm pretty sure he sait 'bub' twice.

[Codym]

We'll, I just got back from seeing it. Very cool indeed.

Wolverine says "Bub" throughout the movie. The effects are excellent, and the movie is well acted. Nightcrawler and Iceman both rock. The ending is a killer.

The bad: Mystique is criminally overused, and Cyclops is criminally underused. Nightcrawler, Iceman and Rogue needed more screen time.

It's 3:15am now, so I'm going to sleep.

[Timmay]

It sucked that Gambit only had his name mentioned in the movie. I was up for some card flinging action. We will see him in the deleted scenes on the dvd though.

Check it out:
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news03/030428.htm

[X-Corps(NZ)]

I've just seen X2,
10:50 AM showing, Wednesday April 30th 2003, Nelson, New Zealand.
Great Film, cool story, good pace, amazing action and most importantly funny moments.
I'm still sobbing from the end, I had no idea, which is pretty amazing considering the kind of world we're all living in especially the one we're in right now.
I loved both Magneto and Pyro's "Vulgar Display's of Power", I was really curious too see just which aircraft Pyro would go home in.
It's a pitty James Marsden/Cyclops didn't get more screen-time, I have a feeling he'll get a lot more in X3.
Is there a really detailed list of all the different mutants who both appeared and who's names were mentioned?
Mutant 143/Jason aka to X-Fans as Jason Wyngarde/Mastermind was quite a treat for all of us and also worked as a great plot device.
Both films now have had there plots center around mutant machines, the mutation inducer from the first movie and Stryker's Cerebro imitation. I wonder if there'll be a mutant machine in X3.
I loved what Magneto tried too do. Evil Bastard :)

[X-Corps(NZ)]

Bub was said twice ... Both times to Stryker I think, I so wanted too hear the words "James" & "Howlett" :)

[Sam U Rye]

Don't you think that Iceman is a dead ringer for the Aussie Cricket Captain Ricky Ponting?:?

[Draggor]

Just saw the movie this morning. Your review was spot on Eric, it rocked. Better than the first I think, the spotlight fell on more of the characters equally, apart from poor Cyke and Rogue who don't seem to get much screen time. Lots more good character moments, Wolverine gets all the best lines again. It was good enough that I can forgive them all the meddling with comic continuity they've done. The one thing I was apprehensive about was Alan's portrayal of Nightcrawler, especially when I read that he'd never read any x-men books. I needn't have worried. He was spot on with his portrayal of Kurt. Just hoping to see more swashbuckling Kurt next time.
As for that ending:O :( :jeanphnx: :astound: :omg: :cheers:

[Timmay]

Originally posted by X-Corps(NZ)
Bub was said twice ... Both times to Stryker I think, I so wanted too hear the words &quot;James&quot; &amp; &quot;Howlett&quot; :)

Aaiight, Just saw it again. Probably with you on the 2 bubs, but once was in the kitchen at the school, not to Stryker (would say more but don't want to ruin anything).

Gonna have to keep on seeing it to fill the void between now and the next one!! (Well I'm hoping anyway)

By the way, Colossus looks frickin' awesome!

[Deathscythe]

What a GREAT movie.:worthy: :worthy: :worthy:
We can see Magneto as how he really is.
Wolverine absolutely awesome!
Colossus :O

And the last 10 sec WOOOW!!!! :O :O :O

[qpidx]

Great words, Eric. I just have one negative thing to say about your review -- it doesn't give enough praise to the film! :p

I'd give it 10 Xs! So now, I hate Brian Singer for making me want to see X3 TOMORROW! *sigh*

I rarely post here because I don't have much time to do so but after seeing X2, there's no reason not to tell all you guys to go see it 2X. :D no! More!

Damn you, Singer! You're worse than The Lord of the Rings Trilogy! NO! You're worse than Millar and Hitch on Ultimates! :p

[THE REAL MCCOY]

I went with my bestfriend to see X2 and we were BLOWN AWAY! Unfortunately we were the only comic readers in the audience. We both jumped up at the end and screamed in anguish, realising X3 was still a long long long away.

This movie kicked ass, from beginning to end. I would describe it as an experience if anything. I left the cinema feeling high and slightly dazed. I got so worked up, I even had to have a puff of my inhaler.

In all honestly Eric, Cyclops did have a smaller part in this movie. But when you watch this movie, you say to yourself 'This is the X-men'. Sure Rogue is still not quite Rogue, but she's growing.

If you haven't seen it yet. Go see it. Prepare to be blown away.

[f4faith]

Originally posted by THE REAL MCCOY
I went with my bestfriend to see X2 and we were BLOWN AWAY! Unfortunately we were the only comic readers in the audience. We both jumped up at the end and screamed in anguish, realising X3 was still a long long long away.

I was glad to see that particular character actually have a story of their own that's for sure, though I'm one of the few that isn't a big fan of the particular comic storyline except the "end" and that's what we see this movie. That made it work and I'm not sure I'm interested in it in X3.

That said I did like X2 way more than X1. Nightcrawler steals the movie to me as do Mystique and Pyro. Jean also gets a story beyond the girlfriend and Storm at least gets to use her power and I even like Wolverine better.

However, I do think there are characters that deserved better or got too much time. Wolverine is overused no matter how good Hugh is. Iceman too unfortunately only has one scene where I like him and that's one with his parents. Beyond that he bored me to tears when he wasn't using his powers - he's just *too* nice and sweet. His whole prankster/childish personality is lost and it makes him rather uninteresting and boring beyond his powers. And Rogue again is still practically interchangable with any other female kid except for her powers which seem to be her only point for existing. And the cameos did nothing for me. i just can't get excited about characters they didn't bother to use.

In all honestly Eric, Cyclops did have a smaller part in this movie.

Yes. A character that could have used more time - unlike Bobby, he has a distinct role and interesting personality to me to make me want to see him more. Though may by necessity have a bigger role in any next movie at least.

Sure Rogue is still not quite Rogue, but she's growing.

She's going to have to grow a heck of a lot in my opinion. She's still fairly useless and uninteresting character wise beyond her power.

If you haven't seen it yet. Go see it. Prepare to be blown away.

True, this movie was much more enjoyable to me than X1. Well worth seeing.

[Dantez]

AARRGHHH STOP IT!! Eveyone is seeing it already! I gotta wait a few more daaaysss!!!

Urgll....inner geek....dying....must ....see.....movie.....

[Karmapoliced]

I watched it tonight and it was the greatest thing EVER!!! WOW!! I could go on and on and on but I don't feel like typing a essay. :p: There isn't one scene that I could pick as my favorite, because the whole movie just RULED!

Ok. There's one thing that stands out. Nightcrawler. He was just amazing!! The opening sequence was just the most awesome thing I've ever seen in a movie and ...it was like it came out of my childhood! How I dreamed it would be like if my favorite characters from the comic, like Nightcrawler, were real.

And Collossus!! Seeing him armor up made me, for lack of a better definition, geek out! This movie ruled, and I can't wait to see it again tommorow night! (God bless being a theater manager :p:)

[Chamber]

Did anyone notice a shadow on the water at the end? Phoenix!

[Drackdallion]

I saw it last night, ´cause it opened here in my country yesterday and I must say again: AMAZING!!!!!!
I was in tears during the whole movie, and the coolest part is that everyone, fan or not, can really dig it and understand it (my girlfriend who didn´t even see the first one did!) and LOVE IT!!.

I can´t point out a flaw.
I loved specially:

The Phoenix Force making its big screen debut
Nighcrawler´s opening scene
Magneto´s escape from the plastic prison
Storm using her powers more and better
Wolverine and Deathstrike´s bloody brawl
Iceman, Rogue and Pyro as the X-kids
GOD!!! I loved every single thing, Who am I kidding?
The easter eggs: Colossus, Syrin, Shadowcat, Artie, Jubilee; Hank McCoy in the TV screen; Remy LeBeau and Jamie Madrox´s names in the Computer screen; Jason 143 actually being Jason Wyngarde AKA Mastermind; AMAZING!!!


GO SEE IT!!!!!
over and over, and over and over!!!!

[Lord Morbid]

Originally posted by Drackdallion
I saw it last night, ´cause it opened here in my country yesterday and I must say again: AMAZING!!!!!!
I was in tears during the whoel movie, and the coolest part is that everyone, fan or not, can really dig it and understand it (my girlfriend who didn´t even see the first one did!) and LOVE IT!!.

I can´t point out a flaw.
I loved specially:

The Phoenix Force making its big screen debut
Nighcrawler´s opening scene
Magneto´s escape from the plastic prison
Storm using her powers more and better
Wolverine and Deathstrike´s bloody brawl
Iceman, Rogue and Pyro as the X-kids
GOD!!! I loved ever sngle thing, Who am I kidding?
The easter eggs: Colossus, Syrin, Shadowcat, Artie, Jubilee; Hank McCoy in the TV screen; Remy LeBeau and Jamie Madrox´s names in the Computer screen; Jason 143 actually being Jason Wyngarde AKA Mastermind; AMAZING!!!


GO SEE IT!!!!!
over and over, and over and over!!!!


CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!!!!!!!!!! I havnt seen the movie yet,and you just had to seduce me with your spoiler tags!CURSE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

[Drackdallion]

ooopssss!! Sorry pal! But seriously where´s your will when you need it?! :D

[Kahio]

Amazing, people, amazing, go get tickets for the day after, as soon as it all sinks in you will want to see it again, and again... i was my bleeding sequel NOW!!!:D

perfect, really, considering the wide reaching affect of X2, it couldnt be better (well a little bit more southern lovin, but i will hope she gets her fare share in X3...)

did i mention i quite liked it?;)

k.

p.s. Spoiler tags people, we dnt wanna spoil it for ANYONE!

[ReaperFett]

Story was superb, will ONE exception. There is starting to become too many in the cast. Cyclops had barely any scenes, and some of the others were waivering. Hopefully the only characters X3 will add are ones that were cameos this time, and expand. Especially the Irish and Russian ones ;)

Action was excellent. I doubt I'll see a better fight than Wolverine and Deathstrike's. But my favourite will be the WHite House at the start, when Kurt takes over.

Humour was brilliant. Even in some of the tense moments, there were laughs.

Score was.......there. Nothing outstanding, but it did it's job.

Special Effects were top notch. I can't actually think of any bad SFX, and some of it was stunning.

Characters. Because I'm bored, I'll do 'em all :)

Wolverine is brutal. And it is great. This is Wolverine at his best (And I'm not a huge James Howlett fan). Jackman really is a perfect actor for this role.

Xavier is a vast improvement over a good X-Men performance. There is more to this man now than just running the school and having powers. More characterised.

Magneto. Forget LOTR, it's as Magento that McKellan should win an Oscar. Borderline evil, I almost feel sorry for the man. His entire life he has been treated like scum.

Stryker was a perfect bad guy, and with intresting motivations. Brian Cox played the character well.

Deathstrike said probably one line, but that was enough. A very imposing performance.

Mystique had a VERY intresting relationship with Magneto. You really wonder if there is more between the pair than a working relationship.

Jean Grey has Famke do the impossible. She made me LIKE Jean Grey. This is unheard of! But such a powerful performance.

Cyclops. Let's cut to the chase. He is the mistreated one once more. But this time, they manage to make it not so bad. Even when he wasn't there in person, he was there in peoples thoughts. And we see some good interactions between him and Wolverine, which is one of the highlights of the pair in the comics. If there is any goodness in this world, he will be a major player in X3.

Oh, and if that was a CD in his car, he has a bad taste in music :)


Storm was done well enough. If Berry thinks this was a small role, she can leave NOW. Kurt and her was developing nicely, and she was important in a large number of scenes. For a movie with such a large cast, she did A LOT.

Nightcrawler was possibly the star of the show. Cumming played Kurt with such enjoyment, and it showed. Every scene with him in was well done. And they played a lot on his faith, which just made the character all the more intresting. His tattoos suddenly become important. He was also very funny. The only shame? They didn't let the regular Joe know about his parentage. I hope they show this in X3.

Rogue was a waste. Seriously, I don't see the need for her. In X-Men, she was a plot point. But now what? She just seems to tag along. I love the comic version, but I find this one lacking. Hopefully she gets to perma-absorb something soon.

Iceman had some nice scenes, especially the Logan one. There was real emotion in his family scenes as well. I just wish he'd ice up! :D

Pyro was a genius character. So cocky, so arrogant, he was great. His powers gave some great scenes, and his talking with Magneto was excellent. Highlight was his blame quote to Bobby's parents :D

Collosus. KU-DUNK KU-DUNK KU-DUNK. PING PING PING. WHAM!

Say no more :)

A great part. And they kept him Russian! Hats off for that!

Siryn was better than I expected. Her scream was perfect. I just wish they had picked someone a bit older to play her. Hopefully they'll get someone else to play her in X3, unless the girl in X2 was older than it seemed.

Gambit, Beast and Multiple Man were there. Trust me :)






Overall, an EXCEPTIONAL film. This only just falls short of Daredevil. Both were near-flawless. Hopefully, they can keep the important cast members (That doesnt include Storm :) ) for X3. Most important, I hope they give us Cyclops fans something more. He deserves it, we deserve it and the story needs it :)

[roman]

I just got back from seeing an employee screening of X2 and we were all floored. This is one of the best Comic Book movies, it goes right up there with Spiderman and Superman. I thought the first one was okay but this one just took all my doubts and buried them. Marvel continues to roll(even with daredevil not being all it could be). This is what every sequel should be like. It took all the right elements from the first movie and improved upon it! Lets hope the spiderman sequel can do the same. I only have 2 complaints (more from slim and peter) but it looks like X3 might answer that. I think everybody should see this! Go now! What are you waiting for?

[lightwards]

:astound:


Holy ****!!! I just got out of the midnight showing and man, oh, man!

I thought this movie blew X1 out of the water! Better balance for the cast (except poor Scott) and fabulous action sequences. Wolvie cutting loose in the mansion...everyone in the theater was screaming! This is what Wolverine should be! But Nightcrawler gets to be the breakout character for this one! The mutants got to fly their freak flag high!

The only concern I have is that people who've never read the comics might be a bit confused by the subplot tied up with the ending shot. If I hadn't known what was going on, would it have been so awesome? Hmmm...YEAH!!!!

[Scots Fan]

Like many X-Men faithful I was waiting for the release of X2 with a certain degree of excitement, well actually more like foaming at the mouth. The movie had been hyped as being the Empire Strikes Back (best movie sequel ever) of the X-Men franchise and boasted more cameos be fans favourite mutants such as Colossus, Syrin and Beast. So when the day of it's release can I was just a little bit anxious to see if the movie would live up to the hype that surrounded it.

It DID NOT.

To say that I was disappointed by this movie would not do justice to how I felt, and still feel less than 24 hours after seeing it.

The Actors

Going into this movie I was well aware that it was going to be mostly centred on Wolverine much like the first one was, which I was ok with, after all he is probably the second most popular character at Marvel just behind Spidey and if you've got a character in a franchise that popular you are going to cash in on his popularity and play him up more, that’s just smart business. I don't think it would be possible for anyone else to take on the mantle of Wolverine other than Hugh Jackman, he has made the part his own much like Michael Keaton and Christopher Reeves did with the roles of Batman and Superman respectfully.

After her winning an Oscar I was well aware of was that after Halle Berry was going to get much more screen time than she had got in the previous film, again if you've got an actress in your cast with Halle Berry's talent use her which I think they did. I felt that she pulled off the role well, but I think an actress of her quality could have been given more challenges and her character could have been given a little more depth, you get the feeling that her character has some kind of defining moment in her past that was hinted at in the first film that has given her the views she has today and this is shown when she is talking to Nightcrawler but again it isn't really gone into in much depth, perhaps in X3?

I think that one of the worst casting pieces of casting would have to be Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, not because she's a bad actress, it's just that the age gap between herself and James Marsden spoils the relationship, it makes it seem more like Cyclops is her toy boy than her partner, and this I feel is a bit disrespectful to the X-Men lore. I was surprised at how much screen time she actually got for her role, more than the previous film. Overall a good performance, by a mis-cast actress.

James Marsden I can't really comment on his ability to play Cyclops since he isn't given a chance in this movie, I think that on appearance he looks the part to play Cyke, but against the matching of Janssen as Grey I really don't think they make their relationship that believable. As a giant Cyclops fan I was sickened to my core at how little screen time Cyclops, after all the whole point of Cyclops is that he is the heart of the X-Men team, a strong leader figure that the others turn to in times of need, not in this movie, in this movie Cyclops comes across as a little sissy boy who would be more suited as a hair dresser than the leader of the X-Men, I mean Cyclops listening to NSync COME ON!
I don't understand how someone like Bryan Singer who tries so hard to stay true to all the other characters can get Cyclops so wrong, I mean the only reason for Cyclops being in the picture is to give the sacrifice of Jean a bit more meaning. I think that the writers should all be taken out the back and shot for the way the way they have managed to destroy a character that writers like Chris Claremont, Grant Morrison and others have developed over the years in the space of 2 films, truly a gift.

Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier is a no brainer, is there anyone else out there that could play the role of Prof X other than Stewart? His role in this film is larger than the first one and his portrayal of Xavier is more or less right. Another good outing for Stewart.

Ian McKellan as Magneto is another casting that I don't think the powers that be got right, don't get me wrong Ian McKellan is a good actor that goes with question, but I just can't help but think that he is too old to really pull off the menacing aura of Magneto is full and this I felt is really shown when he is attacked up in the prison by the guard, I felt that it just really showed that without his powers Magneto is pretty much helpless. Like Halle Berry an exceptional actor playing a mediocre role.

Rebecca Romijn-Stamos's Mystique is a character that is over used in this movie, even though she doesn't really have that may lines in it, you get the feeling that she is just there as eye candy.

Alan Cummings as Nightcrawler is an ok performance by a decent actor. He isn't really a major player in the film's big picture, instead his characters just serves a the catalyst that starts the chain reaction that is the films main plot, once he has down that he kind of becomes the comic relief of the group. I was disappointed that dynamic that Nightcrawler and Mystique share in the comics wasn't really explored in this movie.

Brian Cox as Stryker reminded very much of Wraith from the Ultimate X-Men comics. You never really got an insight into exactly what he was doing with his captured mutant victims. As his connection to Wolverine it just brought up more questions than it answered and means that once again X3 will have some element of Wolverine looking for his past. The choice of Stryker as the main villain I felt was wrong, it should have always been the Sentinels.

Kelly Hu as Deathstrike was a bit like James Marsden role short, at the start of the film Stryker introduces her as his assistant and that's really all she is in this film. The fight scene between her and Wolverine was impressive but too short and really didn't justify why she was used instead of Stryker controlled Sabretooth which would have been much better.

As for the three young members of the cast I think they all did very well with their respective roles, the relationship between Shawn Ashmore's Iceman and Anna Paquin's Rogue wasn't really that interesting to me but I suppose it was just put there to give the film a bit more sex appeal to the movie going masses. Aaron Stanford as Pyro for me though steals the spotlight from the other two though, his portrayal as this young maverick mutant who makes no apologies for being a mutant is truly one of the highlights of the movie.

The Plot

I think that the plot for this movie was no were near as good as the first one, the reason being due to the subplot involving Jean which I felt took too much of the thunder away from the main plot of X2, it just felt to me especially in the second half of the film as a trailer for X3, which every X-Men fan knows what it's going to be.

I still don't understand the decision of Bryan Singer to focus more on characters like Iceman, Rogue and Pyro and yet at the same time neglect such a main character like Cyclops if your going to do that just don't but him in it, I think I speak for alot of Cyclops fans when I say that I would rather he wasn't in it than used so badly by such a good director.

I just felt that the movie was all bark with no bite.

[Shazza710]

hi just messaging to say I saw X2 with my girlfriend yesterday and it was so amazing! My sis and cousins are going to watch it tonite, and my sis said she'd pay for me, so I thought I'd go again :D

i don't know what halle berry meant by saying she had a smaller role than in the first one. me as one of the biggest storm fans, thought her role in the movie was great (even her hair didnt look too bad *holds breath*). she used her powers a lot more than the first one, shame she didnt fly though :(.

all the characters acting really well, disappointed not to have seen that many cameos, shadowcat and colossus were good. cyclops didnt seem to be in much of the movie though, which was a shame. hugh jackman played wolverine superbly as usual. mystique looked sexy and kicked ass, as did lady deathstrike (they would make quite a good team-up).

the character who did it for me, was famke jannsen as jean grey, she was my favourite character in the film. she portrayed her so well; she wasn't weak and unsure of herself like portrayed in the original, but confident and more powerful. i think she owned this film :D
see ya
rick aka shazza
webmaster of www.storm-goddess-rising.com

[gideonpryde]

Saw it lsst night. What a phenomenal movie, and with the exception of Cyclops, I think everybody got fair screen time, even Colossus. And the ending.....Geez, X3 is gonna be great

[kiyotee]

interesting that they changed Jason Wyngard as mastermind to jason Stryker for this film. Especially if they are planning the Phoenix saga for the next film. Though I did like that they included the two different color eyes hehe

[spinarakboi]

I dont know if this has been mention but can someone quickly explain to me something that bothered me.

How did Prof X stop time like that? I never heard of him doing such a thing? I'm hoping someone can point out some validation of that

Otherwise, flawless! I luved it so much for reasons I think everyone already mentioned. But who is Artie?

[kiyotee]

he didn't stop time, that's why in the museam the news report continues, and why the peoepl at the president's adress re so confused. he just kind of locked up there minds.

still an interesting concept that they introduced Mastermind as Jason Stryker instead of Jason Wyngard when he would play SUCH a huge role in the next film

and artie in the comics used to be the little pink, bald headed kid who couldn't talk but could generate illusionary images to get his point across. early x-factor isues as well as the X-terminator series. I think he may have shown up in generation X too.

[Black mamba]

all i have to say is WOAH x-men2 is quite amazing i really don't understand why halle berry was complaning about how limited her role was when she did some pretty neat tricks with her powers and she got some tender moments with nightcrawler. loved the deathsrike and wolverine battle both these actors did the characters justice. i loved how deathstrike died and did i mention how badas* mystique iis i would love her to teach me some of those reptile like ninga moves.and is it me or does rogue seem like rogues hormones are raging out of controll? i guess its just me and i loved the mystique and magneto joke about her hair.:D all and all i loved this movie.

[iceman06]

The movie was great, but I have a few things on my mind concerning this movie and the future of the franchise...

First, there's the issue of screen time. Storm was great. She actually had a big part with some impressive displays of power. I hope Halle doesn't think her part will get any bigger, and I hope she doesn't leave when she finds out it won't get any bigger. Now, Cyclops is the one being mistreated in these movies. He was barely used. Hopefully, he'll get a lot of screen time next movie since it will probably focus in part on Jean. And I hope that CD belonged to Jean's niece Gailyn.

There's also the emergence of the younger X-Men. Iceman was cool, but he needs to become more of a jokester. I want to see him iced up, and I want to see him use the ice slide at least once. I can see him the way he is in XM: Evolution...a leader among the youngsters but still playful. As for Rogue, I was cool with her in the first movie since she actually was about that age when she joined the X-Men in the comics, and her only real powers are absorption thing, but she needs to at least get superhuman strength permanently so she do something in the next movie. I'm expecting Sentinels.

Also, I'm trying to figure out what an explanation for what is being called a major plot hole in many of the movie reviews. They aren't spoiling the ending, but after seeing the movie, I now understand what they're talking about. Why did Jean have to get out of the plane to stop the water?

[spinarakboi]

probably so she had more control over the flow of the water around the jet. who freakin cares it wasn't far fetched, it's just the choice she made. Anywho in the third one i'm hopin we see the Hellfire Club then we can see Emma and Sage and that would totally rock. Thanks for clearing up about the freezing them thing, I knew he didnt' freeze time i just think since he did that twice they should have explained what he was doing a little, but again I say who cares ^_^

[iceman06]

It's easy to say who cares, but if people mention it, they obviously do to some extent. She should have explained that she couldn't stop the water and start the plane from inside the plane when she was talking through Xavier. It was a great movie, but this and the "mind freeze/time freeze" issue demonstrate how it wasn't flawless. Again, this movie kicked @$$!

[kiyotee]

actually deathstrike's death really annoyed me. I wanted her to be in the next film! don't just kil off great characters like that!

I think when you look through Bobby's room at home and you see all the snowboarding stuff it's leading up to his eventually using ice slides.

really good point about magneto and Mystique joking about rogue's hair, if they hadn't done something the fact that the guy who just tried using you as an expendable fuel source being on your team would have been stretching belief.

Loved what they did with Pyro, now they just need to add the Blob, avelanche, and bring toad back to the brotherhood and I will be content.

[Black mamba]

it doesn't seem to me llike charles stopped time it seemed like he stopped them from thinking. also it makes sense that jean would leave the x-jet she couldn't stop that water while sitting in the x-jet she had to use all her strength and energy u saw what happened when jean was trying to show off with some power stunts while sitting down. *face it jean noone can make power stunts like storm* also i'm surprised ur complaining about scots screen time he had some pretty powerful scenes that would make up for the lack of screen time in my opinion. and i have to agree a character as cool as deathstrikeshould have made it to x-men2 but come on she had a really cool death scene.

[Eric J. Moreels]

Originally posted by Scots Fan
I was just a little bit anxious to see if the movie would live up to the hype that surrounded it.

It DID NOT.

Well, each to their own I guess. I've been an X-Men fan for over 20 years, and X2 blew me away even more than X1 did!

in this movie Cyclops comes across as a little sissy boy who would be more suited as a hair dresser than the leader of the X-Men, I mean Cyclops listening to NSync COME ON!

So listening to NSync makes you a "little sissy boy" does it? :rolleyes: Must mean I'm one too, then, because I like some of their songs.

I don't understand how someone like Bryan Singer who tries so hard to stay true to all the other characters can get Cyclops so wrong. I mean the only reason for Cyclops being in the picture is to give the sacrifice of Jean a bit more meaning.

I think Marsden does a great job as Cyke. That one scene in X1 where he tells the comatose Xavier that he'll "take care of them" was a really good defining moment for the character.

As for the latter, well that was an even stronger defining moment for him. It will be very interesting to see how he's handled in X3, should he return.

I think that the writers should all be taken out the back and shot

Okay, this is going a little over the top, don't you think?

for the way the way they have managed to destroy a character that writers like Chris Claremont, Grant Morrison and others have developed over the years in the space of 2 films, truly a gift.

Again, each to their own, but I have to strongly disagree.

Alan Cummings as Nightcrawler is an ok performance by a decent actor.

:O

I was disappointed that dynamic that Nightcrawler and Mystique share in the comics wasn't really explored in this movie.

How much do you think they can fit into one movie? ;)

Brian Cox as Stryker reminded very much of Wraith from the Ultimate X-Men comics. You never really got an insight into exactly what he was doing with his captured mutant victims.

Sure we did!

The choice of Stryker as the main villain I felt was wrong, it should have always been the Sentinels.

Yes, let's have soulless CGI robots instead of a very talented human actor. Sorry, but again I have to disagree strongly. Not saying the Sentinels wouldn't be cool, but them as the villains alone wouldn't come across as all that much of a threat.

I think that the plot for this movie was no were near as good as the first one,

I thought it was far more believable than the somewhat hokey plot of the first.

it just felt to me especially in the second half of the film as a trailer for X3, which every X-Men fan knows what it's going to be.

Funny, Singer recently said X1 was somewhat akin to an overly-long trailer for X2. ;)

I still don't understand the decision of Bryan Singer to focus more on characters like Iceman, Rogue and Pyro and yet at the same time neglect such a main character like Cyclops

He didn't neglect Cyclops, and it's important to give the X-kids some of the spotlight because they're the next generation. Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine etc aren't going to be around forever!

if your going to do that just don't but him in it, I think I speak for alot of Cyclops fans when I say that I would rather he wasn't in it than used so badly by such a good director.

Well you don't speak for this Cyclops fan, sorry.

[UMichWolverine]

Wow.

I mean.....


Wow.

Okay...

Wow....


This was one hell of a movie. I am an obvious huge fan of Wolverine. It is very hard for me to read Ultimate X-men since he is such a jerk. But this movie is making it more difficult. I am slowly becoming a big fan of Scott. He is rising through my ranks as being one hell of a character. I think we saw a build up to a huge role in X3. There has got be an X3 btw.

Wow....

I can't get into everything I want too but a couple of things:

Stryker's character was great.

Rogue and Iceman doesn't do it for me. Hell Rogue doesn't do it for me.

Pyro had by far the most fun scenes.

I swear if that sound wasn't BAMF! I don't know what is :D

I am suffering from Phoenix overdose lately.

Did I mention....WOW!

Ok, one thing that upset me in the theatre I was in. During the final scene when Scott, Logan, and Chuck were talking and the kids came in, PEOPLE STARTED LEAVING THE SHOW, WTH????

These people totally missed the ending. Okay granted they aren't the comic junkies that I am but still, show a little respect people.

Oh, wait, one more thing.

wow

[ReaperFett]

I think I speak for alot of Cyclops fans when I say that I would rather he wasn't in it than used so badly by such a good director.
I wouldnt. Id rather we got the great performance by Marsden, and a feeling that X3 will be his.

[NicholasRogue]

YAHOO! WOAH! AAHHHH!!! Just saw X2: X-Men United so pardon my abrupt emotions. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! I cried at the end When Jean's eyes were filled with fire, I was clutching my mother's arms, because she knows about the Phoenix from when I told her from the animated series, I was literally hyperventalating in the theater when Jean sacrificed herself. I swear the guy next to me was looking at me like I was gonna pass out, I was crying so bad when Jean died. And when I saw Alkali Lake at the end and the water change, and Jean's voice about Mutation, ? Was that a Phoenix symbol submerging from the water, I could tell something was down there, and I figured that was it, but tell me if I'm wrong. Oh it was just beautiful, I was in shock! I mean I had heard the spoilers, and I knew it probably was going to happen but not that she was going to DIE! :( Famke Janessen to me definitely was my favorite actor/actress of X2 (Sorry Anna) I loved the movie from start to finish, I thought everyone, (except poor Cyclops) had a good part, Wolverine's part wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be and I'm glad, Halle Berry had a heckova lot more part in Storm this time around, and she did good I thought. James Marsden(even though he had a small part) the scenes with him and Jean and Wolverine were wonderful, they really got into his character. IceMan was fabulous! Pyro was freakin awesome! I loved how the whole Darth Vader thing b/n him and Magneto was going on, Lady Deathstrike- I just loved her fight scene with Wolverine and as Yuriko Oyama I loved it when she was cracking her knuckles in front of everyone to show how tough she was. Mystique's part increased dramatically! I loved how she seduced Laurio(Magneto's prison guard) and we got to hear her say more than one line (First X-Men movie- one liner) Nightcrawler- the opening scene at the White House was fabulous! I couldn't blink because I'd miss him bamfing- the technology and cinemotography they used was exquisite. Magneto- Ian Mckellan was hilarious and I loved when he broke out of his plastic prison, he really is a good bad guy- oxymoron for yah there! I like the scenes with Nightcrawler and Storm talking about religion. I wished Kitty had got a line, but I'll just have to wait for X3, Colossus rocked! and I loved Siryn and Jubilee, and Artie sticking his tongue out at Stryker was priceless. X2 is definitely alot funnier than X-Men. Patrick Stewart's performance of Professor Xavier once again shows how well he fits the part. Wolverine- Hugh - I loved the scenes from Weapon X and Hugh slicing those guys, Priceless! There's some things money can't buy for everything else there's adamantium claws.Now down to Anna Paquin as mah favorite southern belle. I loved how she looked more like Rogue this time around- got makeup on, wasn't so afraid, loved the scene with her and Nightcrawler and of course I loved the romance b/n her and Bobby. However I wished she had used her powers more, I admit she used them to counteract Pyro's flames at the police, and when she kissed Bobby her breath got icy- yum!:D Next time around I want her and Bobby doing more action - They earned their X-uniforms I see, and its nice to see the whole team together at the end of the movie except for Jean:( One of my favorite lines was when Magneto says to Rogue on the X-Jet, "Rogue, We love what you've done with your hair"!;) She was getting off her glove until Bobby pulled her back! I loved X2 so much more than X-Men 1, although I still love that movie. This movie was much more a team movie, and that's what it should be all about. Oh and Brian Cox was a complelety superb villian as Stryker- real nasty. I loved the scene when the soldiers stormed the house and of course the end!:(

[spinarakboi]

I went and saw the movie a second time today, I actually liked it even more and picked up some things I missed the first time around. Love the opening. Loved Mystique, Loved Death Strike. Loved Rouge getting sucked out of the airplane. I thought this was great and Cyclops was a great character, sorry but with all the character I think it was balanced well. I'm sure he'll have a bigger role in the third one.... if they make a third one.

I'd say the top three characters that really shown in this movie were:

Nightcrawler: he was without a doubt the best.
Mystique: She was such a *&@$ just the way she acted giving the gaurds the finger. I totally loved it and thought she just spilled right out of the comic book.
Wolverine: Which is surprising, I mean not a lot of comicbook fans (myself included) actually like him that much. At least not ones I've talked to, I think a lot of us have seen just about all the Wolvie we could but he was totally awesome in this movie and I just for some reason liked him so much better this time around.

[Dragon]

All I can say is OH MY GOD, that had to be one of the Coolest Sequels i've ever seen. Everything was right the action, the Effects. Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, Rogue, Iceman and Mystique all were amazing, heck everyone was. Striker proved to be one bad SOB. All i can say is Wow, and THERE BETTER be an X3....and were your in for one suprising Ending.

[BJR]

The movie was amazing. Loved the end with what was shown in the water!!!! Can't wait for the third movie.

[colossus972]

I saw the first showing in our area today and I was blown away....it has been almost 12 hours since I saw it and my mind is still replaying scenes. I love Marvel.....I feel pretty lucky to have a childhood fantasy come true by seeing my heros up close and personal.......Colossus rocked!....too short of an appearance....but it lit me up....

:D


God Bless America


:colossus:

[Arachne]

Just got back from the movie and I'll admit- I cried at the ending. Cyclops gave my favorite part of the whole freakin' thing....I got to be careful or I'll start crying again....:(

[Silverbolt]

There are no words that can describe how awsome this movie was. Throughout the whole thing I could not even believe that I was watching it lol. My jaw was glued to the floor as I was just so psyched about the whole thing. And eventhough I had already known the ending and everything that was going to happen, I was still shocked :O beyond beliefe. And the ending really nearly had me in tears :( not to mention the that Lady Deathstrike's death also had me in teas :(, it was that expression on her face, she looked so sad :(.. All I can say now is that I'll be back to see it tomorrow and yet again on Sunday :D.





Rictor

[williamjholla]

Best .. sequel .. ever.

The women (who have always been the stronger parts of the X-Men whole) take on more powerful roles in this movie than the first. The first X-Men came out around the time "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and "Charlie's Angels" did, and it took a step back from the strides Hollywood was making in portrayals of strong women in lead roles. Though Berry and Jenssen shared top billing with the guys in the first movie, it still painted a rather weak picture of their characters, Storm and Phoenix, in terms of both their roles as well as their powers. Now, they get to shine. Even Mystique and Deathstrike play smarter and tougher roles as bodyguard and strategist. I'm anything but a feminist, but it's about time the ladies are represented truer to their characters and cut loose for a change.

The focus on Mystique was more than welcome. I loved the scene where she and Magneto share a laugh about Rogue -- they showed more of her personality while still maintaining that .. mystique, about her.

I was initially disappointed at the idea of Iceman having a larger role in this movie (I was never too fond of his character) but they portray him so well, I don't remember why I had any qualms in the first place (and the guy who plays him is so hot, it's almost blasphemous for him to play the role).

[Kevin Woodside]

Damn good stuff. DAMN good stuff. I can't even describe it, really.

Magneto - most definetly the best character in the whole movie. Perfect in every way!

And how about that ending! I was on the edge of seat, squeezing my girlfriends hand out of pure excitment!

Two complaints, though:

1. Both Cyclops and Storm needed bigger roles. Not too much bigger in Storm's case, but really for Cyclops. Also, the Professor wasn't as strong as he could have been.

2. I was a little disappointed with Collossus and the rest of the school. They just kinda walked away and we didn't see them until the end of the movie. Where were they? At least an off-shot line would of helped.

But despite this, "X2: X-Men United" really kicked some ass.

Now - ON TO "THE INCREDIBLE HULK!"

~W~

[giantpacoctopus]

I can't believe how much I enjoyed the film. Surprised me actually. The developments with Jean were so satisfying as a long time fan. I'm gonna have to see this one again!

[Matt Lazorwitz]

I was just... infinitely impressed. It maintained a solid movie feel, but had those little nods to the comic fans. And they didn't feel cute or forced, like they often do in comic book movies. The developments with Jean left me short for breath as I left the movie. I really enjoyed the fact that Magneto was genuinely nasty. Some writers would have tread very lightly with a charcter whose background is as tortured as Magneto, to try to maintain him as sympathetic and nice. The movie showed that you could feel sympathy for him and he could still be a villain. My only quibble is the most common one I've found. As a long time Cyclops fan, I was hoping for more. Hopefully X3 will give him the screentime that the story they seem to be shooting for affords him. Oh, please let there be an X3.

[Cyclopian Visions]

Saw this flick last night at 9:30 p.m. SOLD OUT practically everywhere in NYC and I'm being absolutely dead-set serious about this. People were showing up 4 hours early for shows which were already sold out!!! I'm assuming it was as huge everywhere else.

Gotta say, they set the tone right from the beginning with some of those previews. Bad Boys II, The Hulk, The Matrix Reloaded, LXG, simply amazing, way to prime the audience.

As for the movie, I'm still getting shivers. Unfrickingbelievable!!! Never expectedf, people to actually sit in the theatre and applaud but it actually happened, no joke, not at the end of the movie or anything but in between at certain specific spots.

I thought the movie was amazing. Halle Berry needs to stop crying about her limited role because I thought it was just fine. She seemed to be well-balanced along with the rest of the X-Men. Actually loved the way Wolverine was portrayed which is a surprise because his overexposure annoys the heck out of me but I can't complain. Jackman was excellent, Janssen amazing, Stewart godlike, McKellan without peer, Stamos hubba hubba, Cummings devilishly good. All those cameos were well deserved with Jubes, Kitty, Siryn, Colossus, etc.

Scene with Bobby's parents were dead on, loved the cat, she stole the flick. I thought it was perfectly balanced between action and dialogue, definitely built off the first one amazingly well.

As for Cyclops (by far my favorite X-character) have to say I wish he had a larger role seeing as how he was out of the movie for oh, a good 80% of the time but I figure it'll all be made up for in X3 if the Phoenix force is about to come around!!!

[ugaryan526]

Originally posted by Scots Fan
So when the day of it's release can I was just a little bit anxious to see if the movie would live up to the hype that surrounded it.

It DID NOT.

To say that I was disappointed by this movie would not do justice to how I felt, and still feel less than 24 hours after seeing it.

.

Man I am sorry, but if you were not pleased by this movie, you really don't have any business going to see any more movies based on comics. Seriously, there are bound to be a few things people wished would have been different, but if you pointlessly attack everything like this, I don't understand how you derive much joy from life. This movie rocked my #&%*ng face off, and was better than I could have imagined.

I am kinda worried though because of all the actors being unsure of reprising their roles for the third movie, because this ending DEMANDS that another be made. Even if Storm and the other dissenters aren't in it, I think the story would be hurt if they left it this open.

[NicholasRogue]

WEll my theater in Ohio was sold out too, I mean there were people still trying to cram in one theater when the previews were showing. I keep hearing alot about Why Jean had to get out of the X-Jet to save them or why her, well I don't think Storm could do it, she could maybe lift them up with enough wind, but how is that going to start the Jet, and I she had to do it outside, because the others wouldn't let her if she had mentioned it, she just couldn't control the controls from the inside and she did manage to lift the X-Jet up in time before it got destroyed by the flood, Poor Jeannie!:(

[Eric J. Moreels]

There are still some people who are not using spoiler tags! Please stop ruining the surprises in the movie for other people, okay? Any posts without spoiler tags are being deleted to prevent anyone being spoiled.

You wouldn't like it if, before seeing the movie, you read a post that ruined something in it for you, would you?

No, didn't think so, so don't do that to others. Just be a bit more community aware with your posts, please.

[Black mamba]

Mystique: She was such a *&@$ just the way she acted giving the gaurds the finger.

[qoute]



:O mystique did that? i totally missed that? is it just me or did the lady who played deathstrike do an amazing job. i felt so sad when she was killed the look on her face was as if someone was really putting adamantium in her stomach for some reason i just got this vibe that she knew him some how. also me and my friends were just laughing when rogue was struggling with her seat belt and then flew right out of the x-jet. we were all dying of laughter with jean and her weak power displays like when scot mentioned she nearly collapsed over liftng a book. but at the end us jean haters nearly cried okay i'm over exzagerating we were really sad. also i knew i saw something in the water like a phoenix symbol but i thought i was just hoping:(

[speedy]

Well i liked X2, but it wasn't great. I would give it a 7 out of 10. Nightcrawler :O, Mystique , Iceman :cool: and Wolverine :cool: were great, the rest of the cast did allright.
But in my opinion there were just a few to many holes in the plot and Mckellen is to old for the Magento part and his purplelike outfit still looks horrible.
Does anyone else sees a chance X3 will deal with the Mystique/Nighcrawler 'relationship'?
One great thing was that when i watched the movie there were also a lot of young kids and they seemed enthusiastic about the film. Perhaps a few more future x fans here in Holland.

[darkelf63]

I opnly JUSt came back from seing this, and while I don't want to repeat what everyone else says. I LOVED THIS MOVIE

I(Granted yes I'm biased "cause I am a HUGe X-geek..aren't we all)but still this had all of the orginal's strengths and none of it's weaknesses.

The first one was simply a set up for this...the script was tighter, the character buidling was good. The power displays were Amazing..Nightcrawler's opening scene, Pyro's displays, Storm, Magneto and of course JEAN!!!

I liked how the power displays were balanced out with issues that people could relate as realistic possibilities such as Iceman having to "come out" to his parents ("have you tried NOT being a ... and anyword could hve gone there, mutant, queer, etc ) nightcrawler's religeous beliefs versus Storm's existential beliefs.
Jean's struggle, Pyro choosing between Magnus and Charles...

I crowed at all the little insider jokes and cameos (chuckled with the names on the computer list, and Syrin, kitty etc. Although o too wondered where they were..running around in tunnels? Morlocks maybe? Plus Jason was really creepy..as was Stryker.

but the comic book cameos and insider jokes were there but not as overt so that it wouldn't have felt oppressive to the audience who have not read the comic book before..

My only problems?

Iceman wasn't nearly as cool as he could be (although Storm, Kurt, Jean, Magneto, Pyro and Mystique made up for that :D ) in terms of power displays..but I love how they showed him struggling with trying to be the good student and not upsetting his parents. I also really liked how they developed Rogue and his relationship...

I could not remember Kellu Hu even SAYINg anything until a friend pointed that one uninteresting line she had. Poor girl, had the coolest fight scene though,

Cyclops was pretty non-distinct (which was fine for me..he's pretty much a wanker really..IMO)

Final words..the movie is really good the part that they kept secret (with the dam) was soooo brilliant. I liked how they kept the basic original elements without making it too hokey. After the final look at the water PHOENIXI cannot wait to see X3

[Kevin Sutton]

This was an excellent movie. But I guess that I don't really need to say that. The actors were all great and while some didn't impress me at some points, others were absolutely fantastic. Hugh Jackman and the writers have made Wolverine into something incredibly cool, Jean was absolutely fantastic, Mardsen nailed what little he got, Halle was even okay. The kids were also fun to watch and the grey brigade of Stryker, Magneto, and Xavier was extremely good. The dialogue helped massively as the characters were truly brought to life by the little snippets of conversation. Marsden proved at the end that you don't need to see someone's eyes to see emotion. I liked Nightcrawler (ecept for the teeth) and I found his parayer in the ending to be quite good. Without that the scene would have just been virtually silent, and his prayer made it seem more morunful. Good stuff.

The effects did what they were supposed to. They allowed the writers to create and do whatever they wanted while being almost totally seamless. But beyond that, they were able to make some sequences really eye catching. The flow of the movie was great, and I felt that the writers did an exellent job of cramming all of that into one movie. I liked the whole atmosphere created by the film, and felt a real sense of urgency in the movie. Y'know I hadn't realised how pumped I was until the opening scene in the White House. My heart rate was rapid even before anything happened.

From a fanboy perspective, the movie did quite a bit. Mystique comes off as incredibly cool, Jean heroic, Wolverine really cool, (and I'm usually not a fan) and the villains truly awesome. I was upsetted that Marsden got such a small part, especially when he did such a good job. I wished that fight with Jean had been longer, and I found that the Deathsrike/Wolverine fight went both fast and long. (But it was still good)

[Colossus911]

:colossus:this was a great movie
needed more colossus though.

[Nubia]

Eric, I enjoyed yout review
I loved loved loved loved loved X2.
I laughed, I cried, and I was on the edge of my seat. And as an x-fan, i got a kick out of seeing everyone elses positive reactions. Even though some characters had more screen time tha others, I think they did a good job of balancing the cast. While their was less Scott, I think Storm had a decent amount of screen time (more than I was expecting). I enjoyed her interaction with Nighcrawler. Anyway...I cant wait to see it again, and of course, I cant wait for X3

My Current Marvel Movie Rankings
1. X2
2. Spider-Man
3. Blade 2
4. X-Men
5. Daredevil
6. Blade 1
7....uhhh...Howard the Duck ;)
...I wonder where the Hulk will rank.

[Agent 10]

Overall an Xcellecnt movie.
Now i cant wait to see Grant Morrisons upcoming take on Phoenix in New Xmen because it seems like the filmmakers are also taking a 'less galactic' take on the phoenix saga, judging by the final voieover.

[Eric J. Moreels]

Originally posted by Colossus911
:colossus:this was a great movie
needed more colossus though.

Daniel Cudmore has said he's signed on for the third film, so that means more Colossus for X3! :)

[blinkinhoops]

Awesome I saw it thursday morning then again friday night :) I thought Famke Janssen was brilliant, in the first she was good but she seemed ten times better in this. I was so shocked at the end not at all what i was expecting. Just brilliant.
I also like how when the film starts there are no credits with say ' Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry' until the end as it makes it seem more real and you dont associate any actor with the character till the end.

[Cyclopian Visions]

Just wondering if anyone else noticed (and if it bothered them) that Colossus

SPOILERS AHEAD!
didn't have a Russian accent!

Not sure why it irked me but it did. Thoguht if they were doing everything else to be so similar to the X-Men they could've gotten that right too but I still LOVED the flick.

[Radius]

this movie was soooooooooo good! i loved every minute of it! I thought it was fantastic! I can't wait to buy it! i absolutely loved it! wow
WOWOWOWOWOWOW super good! go see it if you havent, best money I ever spent on a movie!

[BBWC]

Just a note, I've never even read an X-Men comic. The only exposure I've had to the X-Men series are the movies, the cartoon that use to run on Fox, a really old Sega game, and the logging onto X-Men sites.

Now, with that being said, this movie was FANTASTIC!

Ever since my exposure to the X-Men, Nightcrawler has fascinated me. Dont ask my why...maybe it's a blue thing...:) The portrayal of Nightcrawler in this movie exceeded any expectations I've ever had about the character. Alan Cummings *is* Nightcrawler.

I've watched the movie twice already, and I'll probably watch it again tonight. Yes, it was that good.

Even if you dont like anything about the previous movie, or anything about comics, etc, go to watch Nightcrawler. Just thinking about his opening scene gives me goosebumps.

"Best. Character. Ever." - Simpsons Comic Book Guy

Oh, the rest of the characters were great, as was the ending. At least I knew enough from my limited exposure to know what was going on throughout the movie...:)

[Black mamba]

why don't u give the comics a try?

[BBWC]

Just no real time to read them, at least recently.

I hope to fix that in the future.

[NicholasRogue]

Famke was definitely my favorite this time around! :jean:

[AndrewGilkison]

Me, my dad, and my ten-year-old sister went to the 1:15 showing yesterday. I feared it would be sold out, but my fears were unfounded. We got in just as the trailers began. The Hulk, Matrix, and the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (based on the Alan Moore comic) trailers looked awesome on the big screen. The crowd reacted positively to the trailer for the Dumb & Dummer prequel too, oddly enough.

The Theater was pretty full, so my dad and sister had to pick the CRAPPY seats in the bottom row towards the end of the screen. *I* however managed to spot a great seat in the six row right in the middle of the screen where I had a GREAT view of the movie. So hurray to me.

Anyway, the movie rocked.

Hugh Jackman nailed Wolverine. Nuff said. :wolvie:

Alan Cumming brilliantly played Nightcrawler and had pretty much everything down, from his humor (the crowd laughed at pretty much all the humor scenes) and his sense of honor and charm. He was very menacing and threatening in those opening scenes in the Whitehouse. The best Nightcrawler moment was towards the end where he recited a prayer after Jean’s self-sacrifice scene. His waving at President McKenna in the Whitehouse scene at the end was funny too.

I thought James Marsden was good as Cyclops. :cyke: He was absent for most of the movie after the ambush scene, but his presence is felt throughout the Logan/Jean scenes. His emoting after Jean’s death I had no problem with, and I commend Jimmy for doing the difficult task of doing that kind of acting while having to keep your eyes hidden.

Patrick Stewart owns the role of Charles Xavier, just like Hugh Jackman owns Wolverine and Chris Reeve owned the role of Superman/Chark Kent in 1978.

:magneto: Ian McKellen was great once again as Magneto, who was a very complex character here too, even more so this time around, then in the first one (in this one, he went from good to evil to good to evil on a dime, with it being logical and compelling every step of the way, in my opinion). The part where he magnetically pulled the iron out of the guard is awesomely STICK and bloody. Eric’s best line was the "when will these people learn how to fly?" after saving the X-Jet from crashing.

William Striker may not be like the character from God Loves, Man Kills, but this version is a very compelling villain in his own right. He was a loathsome creepy bigot. But man, when he explained what happened to his wife, and how his son caused it, for that moment I agreed with his justification for wiping out the mutant race and that CHILLED ME... great performance by Brian Cox as Striker here, imo. I can’t wait to see someone try to “finish what he started” in the next film, and try to do it with Sentinels!!! :sentinel:

Deathstrike was a menacing creature here, and her fight scene with Wolverine was nicely handled. There were parts of the fight that I had a hard time telling what was going on, but it was nicely handled still, especially the ending sequence. Kelly Hu made an impact without a lot of lines of dialogue, and for that I congratulate her.

The other X2 women were awesome in their respective roles as well. Halle Berry delivered a respectable performance; Famke Janssen was awesome as Jean Grey, with the self-sacrifice at the end as her best moment... Phoenix BABY!!, and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos was even better as Mystique this time around. The X-kids were great too, from Siryn to Kitty to Collossus to Rouge, Iceman, and Pyro (MY GOD this guy is wicked).

As for what I didn't like about the movie, well I can't think of anything really. Maybe I wish the the powers would've gone crazy during the the Dark Cerebro scene like it did in the Novelization, but I guess that is it. Hate to come off as an unobjective X-Men fanboy here, but I just really don't have a bad thing to say about this film really. Sorry.

Anyway, my dad liked the movie (even if the crappy seats he had made it hard to see for him) and my sister liked it better the first one, with the fact that "they said a lot of naughty S words" being the only drawback for her. The crowd seemed to have a good time too.

After the movie, I went to the book store to try and get God Loves, Man Kills, but while they had a lot of other X-Men books, they just didn't have THAT ONE. Oh well.

Well here is to X3! May it be a good one, whenever it comes out. I'll be there when it happens for sure.

[Anthony Zisa]

I enjoyed it much more than the first one, but... that's not really a difficult achievement. It was also better than "Spider-man," mostly because Singer managed to make it fun and spectacular throughout, and probably also because they had writers that better understood that hokey comic book dialogue doesn't work on the screen, even when played for cheese effect.

It's not "Citizen Kane," but it's a fun two and a half hours. I did appreciate that they trusted the audience to have absorbed the relevant information from the first flick, and that the filmmakers just dived right into the plotline this time. The major problem with the first movie is that it felt like exposition right up until the final frame.

--acz

[darkelf63]

Anthiny is that kate beckinsdale from underground as your Avatar? I want to see that movie..

I don't think that the sequel can take any more characters though..but the comic geek in me want's to see Gambit and Psylocke...

Singer did pretty well for the most part balancing out the ensemble cast.

[Anthony Zisa]

Originally posted by darkelf63
Anthiny is that kate beckinsdale from underground as your Avatar? I want to see that movie..

Yes, that is Kate Beckinsale from "Underworld." It looks like a very fun vampire flick. Plus, she's brutally hot.

I just hope that "X2" makes enough money so that next time, they can purchase a plot to justify all the pretty effects. :D

--acz

[BBWC]

Someone had said that Beast and Gambit made cameos in the movie. I just watched X2 again (3 times now), and I caught Beast. I'm surprised I missed him the first time...DUH! However, I couldnt track down/pin point Gambit.

Anyone want to give me a clue as to where he was? Or, better yet, just tell me...:)

Thanks!

[lightwards]

Originally posted by BBWC
Someone had said that Beast and Gambit made cameos in the movie. I just watched X2 again (3 times now), and I caught Beast. I'm surprised I missed him the first time...DUH! However, I couldnt track down/pin point Gambit.

Anyone want to give me a clue as to where he was? Or, better yet, just tell me...:)

Thanks!

Gambit was supposed to have a cameo (I gather from an interview with James Bamford that it took place in the bar scene), but it was cut. [go to http://www.darkhorizons.com/2003/X2.htm and scroll down] Also, there is a rumor that Remy's cameo will be included on the DVD.

And we did see his name right above Magneto's on the computer screen...

[rico-shay]

loved this movie. can't say it enough.. but hey does anyone else think that jason stryker with the powers of allusion is kind of supposed to be jason windgarde (mastermind). i just see a similarity in the first name and powers. and who was the boy watching tv? was he just a new creation??

[Two-FacedGoblin]

I thought it was sort of Mastermind there, too. After all, the first name and powers match, even if his appearance and family background don't...

[Bones]

Can't wait for X3, saw the movie the firstofmay(Holland Rules:p ):D

Also I hope colossus gets a bigger part in X3

The boy watching tv certainly was Artie

[lightwards]

Originally posted by Bones

The boy watching tv certainly was Artie

In the movie, Artie was the boy with thick black hair who stuck his tongue out in the musuem and he was captured by Striker's forces.

The boy watching TV was younger, wore glasses and was handed to Colossus by Wolverine and escaped with most of the other children.

And isn't Artie mute?

[Cyclopian Visions]

Am I mistaken or didn't Mastermind have different colored eyes? Isn't there some villain in the X-Canon who has one blue eye and one brown? I thought it was Mastermind and hence that the kid was supposed to be him.

[scribbleed]

Excelsior!

I already heard that this was an exciting action movie even from non-X fans and reviewers, but what blew me away was the homage to one of the beloved X-Men stories. You know which I mean ;).

I don't mind seeing this movie again and again, whereas the 1st one I was just satisfied with the initial viewing. Most important to me was that Professor X had lines which befits his character. Sadly, nothing much about Storm as a goddess (although Halle Berry thinks she is one), no hint of Mystique's and Nightcrawler connections (even though they talked to each other) and the less powerful Rogue. With Wolverine, no mention of 'James' or a Weapon X program, and stranger was Stryker saying something like "I gave you claws" - it would have been better if it was "I gave you adamantium claws", as the fans would know that the claws were inherent all time.

But most sad was watching Colossus cause he's no longer in the comics timeline. Correct look but no accent discernable and drawing cartoons?! He's a great artist, the best fun would have been if they showed a pencil drawing by any of the X-men pencillers - remember how Bob Kane did the original Batman drawing in the 1st Batman movie. One more on Colossus - I was expecting a cannonball with Wolvie during the army invasion - how great that would have been!

I do have some question. 1. Regarding the great ending. Was what Jean said exactly the same words she said in the Phoenix saga? I can't find my paperback edition! Anyway, loved how the flames started to appear whenever Jean used her power. I was expecting wings or her eyes in the shape of a bird. But then it did appear at the end! 2. Who's the kid with the forked tongue? I'm sure it's not the same as Artie who was changing the channels. 3. Did Jubilee appear with her fireworks? When was that?

Finally, I thought it strange that Professor X was talking about the "One and Future King" in his class at the end. But then, 2 hours after the movie, I just realised .... Excalibur!

A truly great X-Men movie!

----
What happens when Xavier trades with minerals from the ocean?
X-sells-sea-ore!

[MrHymes01]

The movie was about as I expected in respect to action, storyline, and characterization.

-LOOOOVED the first 5 minutes with Nightcrawler. Actually, I think I like the way they used NC’s powers better than the actual comic. The way he manhandled those Secret Service agents was incredible. If NC was a villain, he really would be a force to be reckoned with.

-The mansion invasion was pretty cool. I liked how they really let Wolvie cut loose this time. He was a little too “soft” in the first movie for my taste.

-The Siryn [Theresa] appearance was not only funny, but cool. I’m so happy Colossus got a chance to shine, although for about a minute span. It was kind of interesting that they strike team couldn’t catch anymore than six mutants though.

-I loved how they were able reintegrate Magneto into the storyline. When Mystique pumped that metallic goo into that guard I KNEW he was going to do the classic “pull the iron out of the blood” technique. A little nod to the comic book enthusiasts.

-It was interesting how they mad Lady D a mutant in this movie, but not unsatisfying. Although, I was a little disappointed in how they ended it. Actually, just that it seemed to end TOO soon. It was just getting really good and gruesome when ***jab*** it was over. I guess no second appearance from her.

-It was also interesting how they made Mastermind [Jason Wyngard] into Styker’s son [Jason Stryker]. The eyes gave it away.

-I was SOOO happy that they left Cyke out for most of the movie. He stinks in the comic and isn’t much better in the movie.

-Well, atleast we know what the next movie will be…. an adaptation of the Dark Phoenix saga it seems. Hopefully, they’ll cut a little more loose since the X-Team will be dealing with an elemental spirit of the universe. That is, if they make the Phoenix one.

-The Hank McCoy cameo. Cool, but I want to see the blue fur.

-I don’t blame Halle for not wanting to do X3. They’ve decided to take Storm’s character from the strong, passionate, and warrior-like spirit that she is into an angry, mostly defenseless, and misused character for the public mass. Sad, but if I was her I wouldn’t do the next movie either. Shame how they took one of the strongest characters in comics and made her a weak mess. Pity.

-I hope they let Bobby “Ice up” in the next movie.

-When I remembered who Pyro was, I knew he would go to Magneto.

-MYSTIQUE was HOT!!! Again, a great portrayal. Although I don’t understand why her wounds that Wolvie inflicted were still visible? She should be able to morph those away easily. Also, it was interesting that Logan couldn’t tell her scent apart from Jeans. He sure could when she impersonated Ororo in the first movie. I guess that’s me just being nitpicky about small stuff [important stuff though].

-The whole Weopan X thing was a little chopped but it's what you can expect form Hollywood.

All in all a good movie. Now off the The Matrix!!!

That’s it.

[Codym]

Originally posted by scribbleed
With Wolverine, no mention of 'James' or a Weapon X program, and stranger was Stryker saying something like &quot;I gave you claws&quot; - it would have been better if it was &quot;I gave you adamantium claws&quot;, as the fans would know that the claws were inherent all time.


I think it pays to remember the X-Men movie franchise exsists in its own universe, and not Marvel's 616, so changes to "established" lore is to be expected.

I think it would be foolish to mention James in conjuntion with Wolvie, unless they were revealing that his name is James Logan and not James Howlett. Origin earned that name, but to simply drop into alternate X-Men setting with no explaination or reason (such as Mark Millar's awful Ultimate War) makes no sense and quite frankly is a little pathetic. And in the movie, Logan's claws are bionic, not part of his mutation.

As for Weapon-X, I wanted it to be mentioned, but after a brief discussion with some friends afterwards, I was glad they didn't. Too many Xs. But, seeing those blood-caked flashbacks ... they made me real hungry for a big screen adaptation of Barry Windsor-Smith's classic (wishful thinking.)

[MrHymes01]

Originally posted by Cyclopian Visions
Am I mistaken or didn't Mastermind have different colored eyes? Isn't there some villain in the X-Canon who has one blue eye and one brown? I thought it was Mastermind and hence that the kid was supposed to be him. It was the HOLLYWOOD version of Mastermind. In 616 Stryker and Jason aren't even related. They've taken a lot of liberties with the charcters and arcs. Heck, even Lady D was a mutant in this version. :?

[maelstrom209]

X2 is an AWESOME movie!!!!! I can't say it enough times! I was expecting it to be good and maybe better than the first but I didn't realize how great X2 would turn out to be! The story is amazing and really took hold with incredible characterization. What they did with Jean was great. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, I won't spoil it for you. Storm was awesome and the fight scene between Deathstrike and Logan was intense! If you guys haven't seen, run out there and watch it right now! This movie is way too good to pass up!

[Logansneo]

:O X-Men 2 absolutely blew me out of the theater!!! I know that many of you have already posted in-depth descriptions on just how awe inspiring this film was but I still can't get over just it!!! I don't think that those who have gone on to say that this film wasn't enough like the books or was altered and/or didn't focus enough on certain characters, or that some of the characters performances weren't up to snuff, I don't think that these folks went in with an open mind and know they didn't see what I saw. I saw one of the most incredibly talented directors in the business squeeze every ounce of his ability and every ounce of his actor's varied talents into the MOST perfectly concocted movie mixture ever developed for a Comic-to-Film adaptation in history! Bar none!!! What has to be understood is that making a dead-acurate film where every character has time to be fleshed out and get comfortable, and where we get to see one of our favorite story arcs done ver badum would not only make the film 5 hours long (at least!!) but I truely feel would loose a lot of the original intent built into these stories and would end up feeling a little less mature and weighty.

Mr. Singer has delivered something that I could never have expected in my wildest dreams and ties it all together seamlessly to the point that I left the theater feeling amazed and at the same time completely satisfied. Keep in mind that I am a HUGE Wolverine fan and the Weapon X alteration was a bit different for me, but I can't complain at all because we see how and where Wolverine was created and are given a hint to his C