7 out of 10
 

X-Men 2 has one of the most breathtaking introduction scenes I have seen in quite a long time. Impressive not only because of the special effects, also because a mutant attempts to assassinate the President. This gives a military general the moral authority to launch an attack on Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters to further his barbaric and bigoted agenda.

The much anticipated sequel to X-Men has all the mutants from the previous movie, as well as a few new additions, such as Nightcrawler. His mutant powers allow him to teleport and this effect is carried out wonderfully. There is also a ‘cameo’ by Collusus, much larger than all the other children. Wolverine is back after searching the Canadian wilderness to reveal more of his past, just in time to assist in the defence of the Complex. He lacks much of the formal training that Xavier provides the gifted youngsters, so even though he tries not to kill the guards, once he sees the children are in harms way he loses it and the claws come out. Rogue, Bobby Drake(a.k.a. Iceman) and John Allerdyce(a.k.a. Pyro) play a larger role in helping wolverine intercept the other X-Men to warn them of what happened. It seems General Stryker wants to use Cerebro, (which allows Xavier to be in contact with any living creature telepathically and know their whereabouts) to solve the mutant problem. The x-men must band together with their one time foes Magneto and Mystique to foil his plans.

The problem with having so many characters is a lack of overall character development. The main mutants are given more attention, and the younger ones feel less like richly developed characters, and more like cardboard cutouts. Once again the visual effects are very well done, not taking away too much from the overall storyline. Wolverine pipes in with his expected clever one liners which add some humour to this action packed comic book movie. Long time fans of the X-Men comics may have some issues with the inconsistencies, but overall a solid sequel. Oh, and a little hint for people in the know about our favourite mutants, watch Marvel Girl closely, and pay attention at the end.