X 2
X-men United
Released May 2, 2003

Rated: PG-13 for sci-fi action/violence, some sexuality and brief language
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Famke Janssen, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Anna Paquin, Kelly Hu, Aaron Standford
Writers: Michael Dougherty, Daniel P. Harris
Director: Bryan Singer

Reviewed by Peter Veugelaers Ó 2003
- Almost phony baloney

This is as if it shouldn’t disappoint. The first trailer I saw of "X 2" was in January or February played before a children’s film indicating the intended demographic – young people – and the anticipation around the sequel to X-Men.

Like The Matrix sequels there is so much hype surrounding this, seemingly more so than Hulk and T 3. There was even a midnight screening before official release, usually reserved for the likes of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. So, let’s hope "X 2" delivers the goods. For me at least, the best I can say is that it had its moments and the experience was tolerable.

There’s not much to celebrate in terms of a story. It is about a group of mutants defending themselves from the ignorant government (nothing unusual here) who are wary of them in case they damage society.

The mutants, who live in a special school run by Xavier (Patrick Stewart), uncover an underground base that has been hidden for ten years in the purpose of discovering the secrets behind the mutants and so destroy them because they will be social liabilities. Of course, the heroic mutants won’t stand still for this, but will have to fight those of its own kind as well, led by renegade Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen – the best performance in the film).

It starts with promise and towards the end there are some positive signs when the themes neatly resolve. Everything in between is basically ho-hum, a smorgasbord of sensory nuisances (or pleasures, depending on how you look at it): a multitude of sound and visual effects, a consistent annoying use of sombre photographic hues, and plenty of staged "transformations" of mutant characters - for the uninitiated in this comic book fantasy it can be confusing what the heck is going on with whom and to whom. The main fault is the lack of a multi-dimensional plot that can sustain proceedings; I was quite bored, really.

What I like about the X-Men franchise, though, is its emphasis on those that are different being ostracised from the ordinary world because their abilities are regarded as frightening, and the film regards this segregation in the same way as Planet of the Apes revealed the fear of the institution to accept other ideas. Many films deal with similar themes, from Amistad to numerous civil rights flicks, and there is solid strength to the subject.

In "X 2" these meanings are developed simply, incorporating token evolutionary survival techniques with a potent sense of Christian faith for sustenance – (the two would seem irreconcilable, however) – and these are echoed with a sense of significance amidst the surrounding sensations, perhaps identifiable at a number of levels for a large teenage audience, indeed adults too.