X2: X-Men United (2003)

Spider-Man 2 is often mentioned when talking about the best superhero film of all time.  I find it hard to disagree that it has its place, but X2: X-Men United is at least its equal, if not its superior.  Both series unfortunately suffered the same fate, but perhaps these days Spider-Man 2 has the edge for most people because of not having to justify praising a movie Bryan Singer directed.  That said, he is just one small part of what makes this movie so good.  To ignore a plethora of fine performances, as well as a story that continues and manages to surpass he original, would be folly.

The original X-Men introduced the Charles Xavier School for the Gifted and the conflict between its namesake (Patrick Stewart) and Eric Lehnsherr (Ian McKellan).  It also introduced us to the world of the X-Men, where Mutants are randomly evolving and different governments around the world are trying to deal with them.  In the United States there have been measures to try to force the Mutant population to register, a bill that was spearheaded by Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison).  Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto, attempted to use a young Mutant named Rogue (Anna Paquin) to forcibly turn a number of influential people into mutants, despite the experimental process having deadly results.  While Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Cyclops (James Marsden) were able to save the day, Lehnsherr's partner Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) escaped and took on the persona of the now-deceased Senator Kelly.  

After his plan failed Magneto was captured and placed inside a plastic prison, far away from any metal that he would be able to manipulate.  The prison, built by a government contractor named William Stryker (Brian Cox), also gives Stryker access to Lehnsherr's knowledge of Cerebro, the machine that Xavier uses to keep track of the mutants around the world.  After an attempted assassination of the President by a teleporting mutant known as Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) there are again calls for regulation of Mutants.  With the President's blessing Stryker leads a raid on Xavier's school.

With Xavier and Cyclops captured by Stryker, Wolverine, Jean Grey and Storm, along with Rogue, Pyro (Aaron Stanford) and Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) are forced to make an alliance with Magneto and Mystique in order to stop a full-out attack on the Mutants.  Of course, as usual, Magneto has other plans in mind rather than simply rescuing his old friend. 

Singer and co-writer David Hayter have admitted that they were influenced by Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back when coming up with ideas for the sequel.  They also took inspiration this time from the comics themselves, largely ones from the early 1980s that featured a Stryker (who, rather than being ex-military, is a fundamentalist preacher in the comics) and the X-Men having to team up with Magneto.  The darker, more unsure tone works well as it avoids having to use Magneto as a main villain again but still allows McKellan to return in the part. 

The homosexual allegory is a bit more pronounced this time around with Iceman, whose parents think he is at a simple prep school, having to "come out" to them as a Mutant.  It's obvious what they were getting at but, unlike the current lot of movies that would turn it into a lecture, it is handled with humor and tension, in large part due to McKellan helping to write the scene.  While the oncoming conflicts between humans and Mutants is still touched on the rest of the movie focuses on the matter at hand, which is Wolverine taking more of a leadership role in trying to protect the world from both the plans of Stryker and Magneto.  Logan also gets to explore his past a bit more this time around, which makes it clear that Xavier was not in any way unaware of who he is. 

Rogue continues to figure large in the proceedings and it's a relief that she wasn't just turned into a cameo character after the first movie.  The love triangle between Jean Grey, Wolverine and Cyclops still is one of the weaker points, and is exacerbated by the fact that the latter is barely in the movie at all.  Mystique is also further developed as it is hinted that she may not always agree with Lehnsherr's ideas and methods, but she prefers his path sitting in a detention camp, which is where people like Stryker would want her.  Then, of course, there is Brian Cox, giving us a villain driven mad with revenge that, even though he does have layers the same as Magneto, there is no attempt to gain the audience's sympathy for him.

Like Empire, and many of the great sequels in the past, X2 takes on a darker tone and presents our leads with seemingly insurmountable problems while at the same time leaving a glimmer of hope at the end of the movie.  Unfortunately, that glimmer was quick to fade.  While both X2 and Spider-Man 2 are examples of how great superhero movies can be when made by people who, even if they are not fans of the comics, at least love movies, both films leave fans hanging on what could have been if the mistakes weren't made afterward.  Still, until X-Men: Days of Future Passed, this remained the pinnacle of the series, and pretty much still does in a lot of ways.

X2: X-Men United (2003)

Time: 134 minutes

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Anna Paquin, Brian Cox

Director: Bryan Singer