Rating: Summary: A rare sequal that outshines the original........ Review: Now this is how to do a comic book movie!!! This film will satistfy almost any movie fan, and leave them wanting more. It's got tons of action, interesting characters, a good storyline and might even make you shead a tear or two. What more can you ask for from a summer blockbuster (even though it came out in May) movie?I enjoyed the first X-Men quite a bit. While it wasn't the best movie I had seen, it was definately the best comic book movie I have seen since the original Superman. Like many others, I was eagerly awaiting a sequal. And it does not disappoint. Not much has changed from the last movie. The focus of the film is still how humans can't accept mutants breathing the same air as them, so they try to wipe them out. X2 just has a different villain & goes about it a different way. The opening scenes of this movie are amazing. They involve the new mutant, Nightcrawler, trying to asassinate the president of the United States. It definately shows off his mutant powers of teleportation, and the special effects will blow your mind. After a great opening like that, you are automatically hooked. The movie then goes with Wolverine as he goes back to the site where he was "made", so to speak. All he finds is rubble of, what used to be, a scientific lab. He then returns to the X-Men mansion. There you get re-introduced to all of the X-men and some new ones. Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, Rogue & all the rest are here. Iceman plays a much larger role in this picture. He is now Rogue's boyfriend. You are also introduced to a new X-man named Pyro. He is around the same age as Iceman & Rogue, but way more unstable and likes to show off his powers too much for Professor Xavier's liking. After hearing of Nightcrawler's asassination attempt on the president, Xavier sends Jean Grey & Storm to go find the mutant and bring him back to the mansion. Xavier and Cyclops go visit Magneto, who is now being held prisoner in a plastic cage. Wolverine gets to stay home with the kids & babysit. Due to the assination attempt, the president gives Col. William Stryker the o.k. to raid the X-men mansion in hopes of finding the mutant that attacked him. Stryker has his own agenda, however and wants all mutants wiped off the face of the planet. At that point the story & action picks up quite a bit. Bryan Singer (the director) does a great job of seamlessly blending 3-4 storylines together and they are all going on at once. Stryker (played by Brian Cox) is the villain of the film and is trying to make his own cerebro and use Prof. X to kill every mutant on earth. Wolverine has a long & storied past with Stryker. Which I won't get into (might ruin some plot lines), but you learn the origin of Wolverine. Stryker has been holding Magento prisoner for some time now, and he plans a nice escape and teams with the X-men to try to stop Stryker, or so the X-Men think. To make a long story short, it all comes together in the end and it's a very good storyline. The climax of the film is VERY well done and I will bet you at least shed one tear while watching it. This is how you not only do a comic movie, but any movie. It's well acted, well scripted, & well directed. In some other director's hands, this could have been just another action movie involving comic book characters. Brian Singer brings all togther and makes it what it is. I am hoping they make a third film and bring Singer back to complete a trilogy. The DVD is loaded with special features. And they are all quite good, and not useless like some of the Terminator 3 supplements that I just viewed. There are commentaries, behind the scenes, a making of documentary, 11 featurettes, deleted scenes, and trailers. It's quite a good package and if it wasn't the for the Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers Exended Edition DVD, this might be the best DVD of the year.
Rating: Summary: The image on the DVD is dark! Review: I won't really review X2 the movie itself (after 430 reviews already posted here). Needless to say, I preferred this one over the first movie. The thing I'm gonna review is the DVD, which few people here have reviewed. I thought the DVD was pretty dark. I didn't see X2 on the big screen so I can't tell you how the DVD compares to it but I watched X2 on two DVD players and the image quality looked the same on both machines. The shadows and blacks were *really* black, which made it difficult to see any details. I know it's stylised and all but it got on my nerves after a while. I feel like I missed half of the movie. To make a comparison, on the excellent extras disk, the image quality of the second trailer (trailer B, I believe) is clear and sharp, which made me wonder why the movie itself wasn't like that. Oh well...X2 is good solid entertainment but make sure to put the brightness level of your TV set to 100%!
Rating: Summary: Couldn't wait to own it. Review: Loved the movie -- but then, with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine..... Plenty of action, some exciting fight sequences, much more characterization than the first one. The Cerebus scenes got a little old, but most of the movie was excellent. The DVD has some excellent extras, especially regarding "the making of." As is often the case with deleted scenes, few add anything of interest to the movie itself. Other extra footage was lengthy, informative, and interesting. And then, there's Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.... and in the extras, Hugh Jackman as Hugh Jackman.
Rating: Summary: Better than the First!! Review: It seems that Hollywood has difficulty producing sequels which are as entertaining as the first film. Fortunately, the X-men Universe has substantial material for continuing stories for new films instead of a trite re-hash of the original movie. This movie's action and special effects are better than the previous. The moral ambiguities involving choices of the characters are a bit more complex. Don't get me wrong, this movie does not require huge amounts of deep thought. However, if you have the inclination, there is some room to ponder certain ethical quandries that underly the plot. Very enjoyable for those who are fond of action films, and a clear cut above many of the comic-book adaptations.
Rating: Summary: Better than the first! Outstanding Review: It's rule of thumb sequels rarely equal the original. Even when they do, the fans are general a bit jaded, knowing what to expect on the second go around, so even if it is as good, it's not as fresh. Expectations can really hurt a film. Everyone is so excited they often expect MORE, and so are let down no matter how good the film is. So going in, sequels have a hard road. When one is as good it's rare; when it's BETTER that is unbelievable. WEll, believe it - X 2 is even better. The characters are set, so this film gives the chance to explore them a little deeper. Glad to say the whole cast is back. Super fun to see Gandolf being a bad guy! Ian McKellan is back as Magneto the mutant who sees the destruction of mankind as the only way for the mutants to survive. Patrick Stewart is Professor Charles Xavier, the kindly mentor who has a safe haven for mutants and works for their betterment for all. Back also are Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine; Halle Berry magnificent as Storm; Famke Janssen as Jean Grey and Bruce Davison as Senator Kelly . Also, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique, Magneto's new sidekick, Brian Cox (the first Hannibal Lector) as Striker, his mutant killer Yuriko Oyama is played well by Kelly Hu and super addition is Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler. The whole cast does a wonderful job. When we last saw Magneto, he'd been imprisoned within a plastic jail, since any metal can be reformed and used by him. Everyone was happy at the school run by Xavier, while Logan was off trying to figure out his past. The Senator was now a mutant. After the Nightcrawler attacks the president in a protest for Mutant's rights, Striker is able to pressure the president into a campaign against Xavier's School, playing right into Magneto's plans. Short order, Mystique has Magneto free, but Xavier has been taken by Strike who is trying to manipulate him into killing all the mutants. Thus in a switch, the good mutants must work with Magneto to free Xavier. It's lightning pace, wonderful effects, great fight scenes and stronger character development. It's just an outstanding action flick that leaves you hungry for X 3!!
Rating: Summary: my X2 (X-men United) review Review: director(s): producer(s): Cast: Setting:Canmore, AB This movie is about a school of mutants that were not respected in the real world.and a man named wolverine finds out how he became a mutant. although he is the only one that was turned into a mutant from someoneelse in the school he has mastered his techniques quickly. he joins up with this team in there first movie and now he teaches there.they find themselves surrounded by peple tryng to kidnap all the mutants they could most get away but some kids are trapped they're mission is to try and save the kids and destroy the bad guys. although they had to team up with there enemys before the incident they find them and wolverine finds out that the person he is fighting is his creator they beat the bad guys and save the captured mutants as now they no that they are safe once again but this may seem very cliche but it is very exciting i call this must see.
Rating: Summary: X2 - X-Men United Rocks! Review: Being a sci-fi fan since the original episodes of Star Trek aired in the late sixties, X2 takes the sci-fi action movie to a new level and leaves you wanting more. The addition of a female villian with abilities similar to Wolverine was a great addition to the appeal of this sequel. The special effects and action sequences are top notch.
Rating: Summary: Better than the first X-men movie Review: The first X-Men movie had excellent casting but not much of a plot. This sequel is more of the same. Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen were born for their roles in this film. If you read the Byrne/Claremont comic book from the early 1980s, you had to be pleased with the performances of these three actors. The other roles are not as impressive. Halle Berry is too young for Storm and the actor who plays Cyclops has too little charisma. Cyclops was supposed to be the understated leader of the team, the stand-in for Professor X when the heroes were away from the school, but in this movie he just pouts and says "I love you" to Jean Grey a few times. The plot has some major problems. The heroes spend too much time running for cover and trying to figure out what's going on. When they finally got to fight, I was bored. The whole movie seems to take place in about four locations, giving it a claustrophobic feel. Wolverine's claws look good and the movie version of Nightcrawler is okay, but the majority of the superpower special effects have an off-the-shelf feel to them. Cyclops' laser-beam eyes are just a very bright red light, really. Nightcrawler's blue cloud that follows his teleportation looks thin and fake, as well. Very little creativity went into these effects. The best thing about this movie is the decision to keep two essential parts of the Byrne/Claremont comic book --- the internal drama between the characters (the comic had a soap opera feel to it) and the prejudice angle (mutants are a persecuted and feared minority). These two ideas are alive and well in this film, which makes it more than your typical effects-heavy superhero flick.
Rating: Summary: Best Comic Movie Ever Review: If someone said 10 years ago that Marvel would be making an X-Men movie, I would be saying, how many people will actually go see it, but now, Marvel is churning out some of the best movies of the last ten years. X-2 is the best of them all. As for a movie, the plot was great, the story was kept moving, the dialogue was great especially anything that Magneto said. The acting was good. Unfortunately again, the Storm character was not given much depth. Nightcrawler was dead on to the type of character he is in the comics. His religious bend was done perfectly. The only bad thing on a movie note is that the movie did set up a part 3, which was great for a comic book fan but those who never heard of the Phoenix has no idea what is going to come. Any comic book reader should not only own this movie but have it as the center of comicbook movies. For casual fans, this is a great movie hands down from the special effects to the back stories to Nightcrawler's attack scene.
Rating: Summary: I loved this movie.... Review: I very much enjoyed the first Xmen movie and was not disappointed with this second release. Xmen United tends to rely on not only action adventure but development of the characters in such a way that it seems relative and believable. Dialogue and special effects and A+!
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