Cover: X-Men 2 Rating: 0
20 Feb 2013

Details

Director:Bryan Singer
Writer:David Hayter, Zak Penn
Theatrical:2003
Studio:20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Genre:Science Fiction & Fantasy
Duration:128
Awards:5 wins & 32 nominations
Languages:English, Spanish
Subtitles:English, Dutch, Icelandic, Hungarian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, English - HI
Sound:DTS
Aspect Ratio:2.35:1
Discs:1
Region:2

Features

FSK 12
DTS
Surround Sound
Region 2

Summary

X-Men 2 picks up almost directly where X-Men left off: misguided super-villain Magneto (Ian McKellan) is still a prisoner of the US government, heroic bad-boy Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is up in Canada investigating his mysterious origin, and the events at Liberty Island (which occurred at the conclusion of X-Men) have prompted a rethink in official policy towards mutants--the proposed Mutant Registration Act has been shelved by US Congress. Into this scenario pops wealthy former Army commander William Stryker, a man with the President's ear and a personal vendetta against all mutant-kind in general, and the X-Men's leader Professor X (Patrick Stewart) in particular. Once he sets his plans into motion, the X-Men must team-up with their former enemies Magneto and Mystique (Rebecca Romjin-Stamos), as well as some new allies (including Alan Cumming's gregarious, blue-skinned German mutant, Nightcrawler).

The phenomenal global success of X-Men meant that director Bryan Singer had even more money to spend on its sequel, and it shows. Not only is the script better (there's significantly less cheesy dialogue than the original), but the action and effects are also even more stupendous--from Nightcrawler's teleportation sequence through the White House to a thrilling aerial dogfight featuring mutants-vs-missiles to a military assault on the X-Men's school/headquarters to the final showdown at Stryker's sub-Arctic headquarters. Yet at no point do the effects overtake the film or the characters. Moreso than the original, this is an ensemble piece, allowing each character in its even-bigger cast at least one moment in the spotlight (in fact, the cast credits don't even run until the end of the film). And that, perhaps, is part of its problem (though it's a slight one)--with so much going on, and nary a recap of what's come before, it's a film that could prove baffling to anyone who missed the first installment. But that's just a minor quibble--X-Men 2 is that rare thing, a sequel that's actually superior to its predecessor. --Robert Burrow

Credits

Hugh Jackman ... Logan
Sir Ian McKellen ... Magneto
Halle Berry ... Ororo Munroe
Patrick Stewart ... Professor Charles Xavier
Ian McKellen ... Eric Lensherr
Famke Janssen ... Jean Grey
James Marsden ... Scott Summers
more ...
Rebecca Romijn-Stamos ...
Anna Paquin ... Marie
»Anna Paquin ...
Rebecca Romijn ... Raven Darkholme
Brian Cox ... William Stryker
Alan Cumming ... Kurt Wagner
Bruce Davison ... Senator Kelly
Aaron Stanford ... John Allerdyce
Shawn Ashmore ... Bobby Drake
Kelly Hu ... Yuriko Oyama
Daniel Cudmore ...
Katie Stuart ... Kitty Pryde
Kea Wong ...
Cotter Smith ...
« less ...