X2: X-Men United
In the summer of 2000, X-Men made a meteoric impact on the comic-book film industry. Its dazzling special effects, complex characters, and full development of the mutants' abilities put nearly every other superhero movie to shame. X-Men's ending begged a sequel, which the filmmakers delivered. X2: X-Men United is everything that you could expect from an X-Men movie and more.
The powerful mutant Magneto has believed that the conflict between humans and mutants will soon erupt into a full war. His ideas seemed crazy at first, but he may be on-target after all. The debate over forced exposure of mutants is heating up like a potato in a microwave. The mutants' cause is not helped when a teleporting mutant, later named Nightcrawler, infiltrates the White House, evades the Secret Service, and threatens to assassinate the President.
Many of the benevolent adult mutants track down Nightcrawler to see what his deal is. Meanwhile, a military scientist named William Stryker is trying to make Magneto's prophecies come true without realizing it. Stryker uses satellite surveillance to infer that Charles Xavier's school for the gifted is actually a mutant training facility and launches an attack on the school. I won't tell you any more about the plot except that Stryker has crossed paths with one of the mutants before.
X2 continues its predecessor's tradition of consistency in the way that the mutants use their powers. With the exception of Professor Xavier and Wolverine, each mutant, good or evil, is shown to have one specific power. Certain powers have inherent limitations, and some mutants place restrictions on themselves. Pyro carries a lighter because he can manipulate fire but cannot create it from sheer will. Nightcrawler will only teleport himself to places he can see, because he doesn't want to end up inside of a wall. In Rogue's case, her power is dangerous to anyone she directly touches; she can borrow another mutant's power by making skin-to-skin contact, but the act of doing so could kill the lender in a short period of time. Rogue's power is equally harmful to humans. Most superhero movies don't present the full consequences of extraordinary power, which is why those movies suck.
The special effects in X2 still amaze me two weeks after seeing the movie. The manner in which Magneto escapes his plastic prison cell justifies the $5 to $10 admission price by itself. It's also cool to see Nightcrawler disappear in a puff of blue smoke and reappear a second later.
X2 is surely a worthy sequel to a fantastic film. The story is weaker the second time around, but major questions are answered nonetheless. Also, the ending is somber, yet it sets the scene perfectly for a third installment. Unlike X2, I won't wait even a day to see X3 when it's released.
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Logan's desire for a beer at Iceman's parents' house is humorous, and it leads to a thirst for brew.
The impact of Rogue's "gift" on her relationship with Bobby makes the challenges in your love life seem insignificant.
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