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Shane Suzuki Ebbtide Reporter Uh-oh. It looks like we have a franchise on our hands. "X2: X-Men United," the sequel to 2000's hit, "X-Men," is the latest in the recent explosion of movies based on Marvel comic book characters. "Spiderman," "Daredevil" and this summer's "The Hulk" are all turning comic book icons into modern-day technological movie heroes. "X2" was released May 2, and posted the second-largest weekend opening gross ever with just over $85 million.
X-Men is traditionally a dark comic dealing issues such as racism, disloyalty, death, loss and the ignorance of humans. Director Brian Singer ("Usual Suspects") understands this and keeps the focus of the film on the personal issues between the main characters of the movie. This allows for actual character development throughout the movie and for a bonding of sorts with the audience. At the end of the movie, you walk out really caring and thinking about the characters and their next moves. "X2" focuses on Hugh Jackman's character of Wolverine and his journey to uncover his past. This is an ensemble piece, however, and Singer keeps Wolverine's story intertwined with all the other story lines, giving most characters ample screen time for the audience to care and for every mutant to show their special powers. Which brings us to the most impressive part of the movie: the special effects. Ever since "The Matrix" came out, the bar for special effects has been raised to a point where they need to be over the top yet integrated into the characters and the story to the point where they leave you believing that claws actually popped out of a man's hands. "X2" accomplishes this with flying colors. Each mutant's powers are showcased in various scenes, with Storm creating tornadoes and rainstorms, Pyro throwing fire at enemies and Wolverine wielding trademark Adamantium claws. All these scenes leave the audience believing that mutant powers are as real as the popcorn in their hands. The movie is very fast paced with exceptionally scripted fight scenes and quick, witty dialogue. From its opening scene with new character Nightcrawler teleporting throughout the White House to its climactic fight scene with Wolverine, "X2" keeps you on the interested and guessing at what twist will come next. However, this movie is not perfect and not for everyone. The biggest problem with it is that it picks up right where the last movie ends. Lately, this has been a trend with sequels, where the sequel doesn't recap the past movie and expects the audience to already have background information on the story and characters. But in this case, it has been just over three years since the first "X-Men" movie came out, and many of the intricacies will have been lost to memory. And while most of the audience will be fans of the series and understand the plot lines, the average audience can be lost at times during some of the lengthy and in-depth dialogue scenes. Another problem with the movie, for some, will be the script. "X2" is written like a comic book, with short bursts of dialogue and lots of quick cut scenes which make the movie move along rather quickly, sometimes leaving the more casual fan wondering why certain characters are antagonistic toward each other and why others seem to have special relationships. All in all, "X2: X-Men United" is the best movie I have seen in a long time, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a great story with genuine characters and superb special effects. A rare sequel that surpasses the original, "X2" lives up to the hype of one of the most highly anticipated releases of the summer. © 2003 Shoreline Community College™ |
