#Rebecca Romijn-Stmaos

[adamwatchesmovies]

X2: X-Men United (2003)

There have been A LOT superhero movies since the genre really blew up in 2000 with X-Men. The fact that X2: X-Men United remains one of the best means a lot. There aren’t many sequels which top their predecessors but this is one of them. Full of great character moments with the characters we've come to love and with plenty of contestants for new favorites, it’s got action, suspense and many reasons to come revisit it over and over again.

After Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) - a teleporting, blue-skinned mutant - attempts to assassinate the U.S. President (Cotter Smith), he allows William Stryker (Brian Cox) to shut down Charles Xavier’s school for mutants. Actually, Stryker's goal isn't merely to capture the mutants; he wants Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and his mutant tracking computer, Cerebro. With their leader gone and the students on the run, the X-Men have no choice but to turn to Magneto (Ian McKellen) for help.

When we met Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the film took us for a loop by revealing that the most important mutant at Xavier's school was Rogue (Anna Paquin), not him. This twist made us even more eager to learn about Logan’s past. Was his adamantium-laced skeleton and those mechanical retractable claws (the series hadn’t yet retconned these to be a natural part of his mutation) some kind of ultimate weapon program gone wrong? Something forced upon our amnesiac hero? The answer comes in the form of the mutant-hating Stryker, a great baddie that poses an extreme threat because he’s smart and ruthless. There are some deliciously gross and squishy moments waiting for you as you piece together the lengths he’ll go to. It gives me the willies thinking about what he did to his mutant son - almost as much as learning what his son did to his mother.

There are many scenes to make your skin crawl. Magneto’s escape from his plastic prison (a favourite moment of mine), the final battle between Wolverine and Lady Death Strike (Kelly Hu), Stryker’s domination of Magneto…. you probably didn't expect those fom an action superhero film. Neither did you foresee the emotional blows. Bobby “Iceman” Drake (Shawn Ashmore) betrayed by his brother, the children being taken away by Stryker’s forces in the middle of the night, Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) teasing Wolverine with her shapeshifting powers, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) sacrificing herself... There’s a lot going on. A lot to love.

It’s hard to pick a favourite thing about this follow-up. You suddenly find yourself routing for the mutant terrorist Magneto because we’ve been given an even bigger, more sinister foe for our heroes. That’s no small feat. X2 is a confident picture with a lot of balls in the air and director Brian Singer (who’s fallen out of favour today but was a wizard behind the camera) keeps them all afloat, all perfectly distanced to keep the balance and the excitement flowing smoothly.

What’s there NOT to like in X2? It builds on the success of the first in so many meaningful ways. You see the younger X-Men grow into adults, the love triangle between Jean, Wolverine and Scott “Cyclops” Summers (James Marsden) get even more tangled, heroes like Storm (Halle Berry) in a whole new light and villains suddenly become heroes. This film gives you a lot to digest, making it a superhero adventure you eagerly return to over and over. (On Blu-ray, May 19, 2019)