X2: X-Men United didn't need to work very hard to make me happy. I wanted lots of Nightcrawler, my favorite X-Man. I wanted cool uses of mutant powers. I wanted references to the comics that the casual movie-goer might not get but which I, as a reformed comic book geek who used to read all the X titles religiously but hasn't seen one in about a decade, would understand.
The film did not disappoint.
Nightcrawler rocked. The opening scene of the film is a brilliant showcase of what Nightcrawler can do, with great acrobatics and dozens of bamfs. The film glosses over his origins and persecution in the German countryside and fails to establish any hint that Mystique is his mother despite giving them some face time together, it nevertheless gets the essence of his character correct. A friend didn't like the devout Christian underpinnings and strong German accent-- elements easily overlooked in the comics-- but they're dead-on. The body markings deviate from the comics, and I admit I'd have preferred a bit more fuzzy elf-ness, but this is a Nightcrawler I hope to see more of in X3.
Not surprisingly, Wolverine got many of the best scenes and even managed to get a "bub" in (still no "I'm the best there is at what I do," though). He kicked some serious butt and was very faithful to his comic roots. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see a Wolverine solo film, and I think Jackman could carry it.
We also got some nice character development for Iceman, who was barely a cameo the first time around. Iceman is another favorite of mine, and though his powers were barely used this time out, they've certainly opened the door for more of him as the series progresses.
Character development was pretty sparse elsewhere. Storm is still a cipher-- I'm amazed that Halle Berry thinks the role is worth her while. Cyclops was a complete non-entity here. I love Famke Janssen, and though Jean got some decent screen time we didn't really learn more about her. Not that it matters-- she either wants out of the franchise, or they're preparing to launch the Phoenix saga in the next film.
Nice cameos by Colossus, Siryn, Kitty Pryde, and Hank McCoy. USA Today claims Leech and Gambit also popped up, but if so they were neither named nor shown using their abilities (although I did see Gambit's name on a computer screen). I also loved how Mystique busted Magneto out of prison, and the way they showed how just a tiny bit of metal can be a Very Bad Thing in Magneto's hands.
Though the cast of characters is expanding too rapidly to do it justice, X2 was pretty much what I want in a comic book movie. Cool superpowers, good-looking characters, exciting action scenes, and enough plot to hold it together. Now bring on Phoenix and the Sentinels.
Posted by Peter at May 2, 2003 03:05 PMNot quite. I expressed my distaste for Nightcrawler's excessive Christianity, not that his movie version wasn't accurate. As I am not a huge fan of the series (I've never read an X-men comic to my knowledge), I was drawn to Nightcrawler from the cartoon and the video game. So I was excited to find that my random pick for favorite X-man was going to be in this movie. My disappointment was that he was such a religious nit. I have no doubt that that is faithful to the comics for his character. It saddened me all the same.
Posted by: Nate Beeler on May 3, 2003 12:37 AMNightcrawler was fine, tattoos and all. Throwing in a young Colossus made my day (way back when I saw it on a fan site, unfortunately).
Now it is the time for a comic nerd to pick some bones... My main problem with the flick is the face time that the big stars got. Yeah, Jackman is a beef-cake and yeah, he could probably hold a movie with his flipped up hair, but did we need to see him come out and pose with the kid in his arms? you could just hear the director "now hold that, head high- chest puffed- stand in front of that one guy... whas' his name, uhhh Cyclops, yeah! this one's for the ladies!"
And then there's Storm... yet again you could hear the director "Awwww damn! Even though she almost dragged the first movie into the shitter she just won an Oscar... REWRITE!" Berry just sucked the energy out of every secene she was in, but forget about that, lets talk about her new wig. Groan!