Jun. 03, 2003 - 2:52 pm
i didn't really have plans to go see this one at the movie theater, but i wouldn't have minded all that much. but anyway, i was able to get my hands on a not-so-legal copy of this. so i watched it at home.
well, i guess what the X-Men series is all about is probably not news to most people at this point. it's based on a comic book universe in which the people of earth are also coexisting with a race of mutants (people with amazing powers that range from telepathy to controlling all elements of the natural environment). in this second film, the x-men discover a new mutant (Nightcrawler) that has made an attempt on the president's life. there is also a special ops group working for the white house that makes an attempt to capture all the mutants at the school. we start to see a bit more of Wolverine's past, and Magneto finally finds a way out of his plastic prison.
i think this one will probably go down in my book as one of the few sequels that are slightly better than the original. my main reason for that is Nightcrawler. he was always my favorite x-man, and he was done extremely well in this film. the religious aspects of his character are amazing to me, and i think he adds a very human aspect to the team, but he's also an astoundingly powerful mutant. the Mystique character is much more full in this film, and she's stopped fighting with her feet. i think everyone is explained better here than in the first one and very few things are glossed over. the special effects are flawless, and they didn't go overboard with cgied special effects either.
the Nightcrawler assassination attempt at the opening of the film is probably one of the best action/special effects sequences i've ever seen. it's just an explosive opening to this great film.