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X2 hits the mark

By Jonathan Pechon
Editor

I should preface this by saying that I’m a geek.

My obsession with games, my penchant for fantasy and sci-fi novels, my Nintendo Gamecube sitting next to a stack of anime DVDs, and yes, my knowledge and love of comics: all these ingredients make up the geek that I am.

So it shouldn’t come as a shock when I say the following: this movie rocked.

X2: X-Men United is the continuation of the story started in X-Men. Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) continues to run his school for gifted children whose “gifts” include the ability to create and manipulate ice, turn to steel, or teleport. Regular humans are protesting and pressing for mutant registration programs. A group led by William Stryker (Brian Cox), a former Army commander and scientist, is working to spark anti-mutant flames. Their attack on the Xavier mansion is the start of a much more insidious plan which the X-Men must unravel.

Returning to the film are a slew of characters and actors from the first movie, including Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Cyclops (James Marsden), Rogue (Anna Paquin) and Magneto (Ian McKellen). New characters taking up primary roles include Bobby Drake (Shawn Ashmore), known as Iceman, Pyro (Aaron Stanford), Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu), and Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming).

The movie is presented much like a comic book, jumping back and forth between scenes quickly. While the plot itself may lack in substance…this IS based on a comic. Even in this case, though, X2 manages to keep from being totally predictable, and is probably enjoyable by more than just the comic-reading parts of the crowd.

As an action flick, we see a bit more success. Whether it’s simply Wolverine in combat during the attack on the school or any other of the battle-sequences that occur throughout the movie, we can appreciate what we’re shown (though they probably won’t hold a candle to what we’ll see in the sequel to The Matrix later this summer). Again, it definitely felt true to the tradition of comic books.

The effects and scenery were really exciting to behold. The X-Jet has been redesigned, giving it a more sleek look for the new movie. Watching Nightcrawler teleport for the first time had me giggling, thinking to myself, “Wow, that’s cool…they did it right!”

The greatest success that X2 may have had is simply in the presentation of the characters that so many people have loved for so long. Wolverine’s struggle to learn of his past continues, and Jackman continues an admirable job of portraying him. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Storm (Halle Berry) continue to grow and become more deep as characters, as do the younger generations of X-Men.

The teasers and cameos throughout the movie keep the knowledgeable fan’s attention. Personally, my teeth hurt in an effort not to tell you about what I felt were some of the more exciting tidbits…

Peter Jackson has spoiled the geek in me by giving me each of The Lord of the Rings movies a year apart; I don’t want to wait another three years for the next X-Men movie. As good as this one was, both on its own and as an improvement over the first, it’s simply too much waiting.