Director Bryan Singer follows up the near-perfect “X-Men” with a 2003 sequel that’s so epically overblown and lacking in focus that it doesn’t even know what to call itself: I’ll go with “X2: X-Men United,” but the opening titles say it’s just “X2” and IMDB and the novelization by Chris Claremont call it “X-Men 2.”
THE STORY
Building on a tip from Xavier at the end of “X-Men,” the amnesiac Wolverine searches for answers about his past at Alkali Lake in Canada. Rogue and Bobby try to have a relationship without being able to touch each other – and also, Bobby’s parents don’t know he’s a mutant (they thought Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters was your basic prep school).
William Stryker is not only back in good with the U.S. military after his fiasco in “Origins: Wolverine,” but the fearful and fearmongering commander-in-chief authorizes him to raid Xavier’s school (Since the saga is now in the age of the Patriot Act, no warrant is needed). Stryker plans to use his telepathic son, Jason, to trick Xavier into using Cerebro to kill all mutants.
“X2: X-Men United” (2003)
Director: Bryan Singer
Writers: Zak Penn, David Hayter, Bryan Singer
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry
Stryker uses a serum to control not only Jason and Xavier, but also – at various points — Nightcrawler, Lady Deathstrike, Magneto and Cyclops. After Mystique rescues him from Stryker’s secret prison, Magneto teams with the X-Men to stop Stryker, but of course Magneto wouldn’t mind if the deadly version of Cerebro was turned on humans instead of mutants.
And also, we meet Nightcrawler and learn more about the lighter-flicking Pyro – who ultimately joins Magneto’s team, where he fits in much better — and get cameos from Colossus and Shadowcat and Siryn and Jubilee and a kid who changes channels by blinking and a kid with a serpent tongue.
BEST GOOD GUY MUTANT
Nightcrawler. This indigo-colored demon-looking teleporter is a triumph of character design, special effects, smart integration into the plot (his mid-air rescue of Rogue is particularly heroic) and an endearing performance by Alan Cumming. I like how he’s always trying to introduce himself in a circus-style spiel and gets increasingly cut off each time, particularly by Logan.
BEST BAD GUY MUTANT
Mystique. She’s beautifully integrated into the plot as her shapeshifting skill plays a key role in the rescue of Magneto and the infiltration of Stryker’s Alkali Lake base. Plus, we get a nice bit of her innate goodness when – in the guise of Senator Kelly – she argues against an attack on Xavier’s school (after all, she was his original student).
WORST MUTANT
Jason Stryker. William’s image-projecting drooling vegetable of a son may be crucial to the plot of “X2,” but there’s no pathos to the character. We never see Jason as a student of Xavier’s, or any family scenes with the Strykers. We’re merely told about it through the dialogue, so it’s hard to muster up much compassion.
Originally, William sought help for his son at Xavier’s school. Later, William’s wife killed herself after being driven crazy by Jason’s illusions. And we were told in “Origins: Wolverine” that Jason was the first mutant William experimented on in what led to Weapon XI (Deadpool). It’s a compelling arc on paper, but it gets totally skimmed over on screen.
BEST NON-MUTANT
William Stryker. I feel like his revenge motive against Xavier – for not being able to help Jason – should’ve been played up more. But Brian Cox gives a decent performance considering that he’s asked to do far too much through dialogue rather than performance, and his appearance and mannerisms flow pretty well from Danny Huston’s in “Origins: Wolverine.”
MOST UNDERUSED MUTANT
Lady Deathstrike. Throughout the movie, right up until Wolverine kills her, she’s under the control of Stryker’s serum. As such, she’s purely a weapon and not a character at all. Obviously, Stryker – who instilled loyalty in his mutant underlings up until the final act of “Origins: Wolverine” – has run too far off the rails to have any willing mutant allies. I assume that when Lady Deathstrike was able to exercise free will, she was a good guy, same as Nightcrawler. I guess we’ll never know for sure, though.
CONTINUITY NOTES AND ODDITIES
Although I advocate for watching the films in chronological order, one problem with that is – for us as viewers, who have seen “Origins: Wolverine” – there’s no sense of mystery to Wolverine’s search for answers about how he got his adamantium skeleton, how he lost his memory, and what kind of person he was before the memory loss. What’s worse, Wolverine himself doesn’t get any of those answers here, although he comes out of the adventure more secure in who he is and who he can be in the future.
Some fans quibble that the set designs of the Alkali Lake facility in “Origins: Wolverine” and “X2” are different. Although identical design between films would’ve been nice, it’s not something that bothers me overly much. At least the lighting and moods are similar.
Sabretooth isn’t in this movie, despite the fact that he most certainly survived “X-Men” (indeed, the “X2” novelization notes that there has been an unsuccessful worldwide manhunt for Sabretooth) and the fact that he fits in with the Stryker and Wolverine stories.
Stryker wanted Xavier to cure Jason of his mutation back in the 1980s. In a deleted scene from “X-Men,” Rogue asks Storm if Xavier will be able to “cure” her (“I’m not sure that how it works,” Storm says kindly, although somewhat taken aback). Hank McCoy also attempted, and failed, to create a cure for himself and Mystique in “First Class.”
But the “cure” theme remains an undercurrent rather than something that is brought to the fore by the screenwriters. Speaking of Hank, he has a cameo in “X2” on a talk show debating the Mutant Registration Act. I like to think that Hank split ways with Xavier in order to pursue his cure for mutation, which he was only partially successful at (he’s human-looking in this cameo, but if memory serves, he is in Beast mode in the third movie of the trilogy).
Although I like Jean Grey well enough, I almost picked her for “worst mutant” because her sacrifice in the final act isn’t earned by the screenwriters. It’s interesting to note that Claremont’s “X2” novelization has everyone escape the flood intact, although Jean for some reason loses her eyesight. Apparently the “X2” filmmakers wanted to give a little kick-start to the third film in the trilogy, centering on Jean’s resurrection and ascension to Dark Phoenix.
However, the sacrifice feels tacked on to “X2,” where she had been more of a supporting character, with the main arcs belonging to Wolverine and Rogue and Iceman. I think the movie would’ve flowed more logically if Iceman used his water-freezing power to slow down the flood and help save the day.
Claremont’s novelization includes some Easter eggs that thankfully aren’t in the film, as they would’ve caused confusion in the overall timeline. For example, Hank is debating against Sebastian Shaw (who was in “First Class”), Remy LeBeau seems to have his powers manifest for the first time (he was a full-fledged mutant in “Origins: Wolverine”), and Moira MacTaggart is described as a current ally of Xavier’s (she was a CIA agent in “First Class,” but the professor wiped her mind). If memory serves, we’ll see the trilogy’s version of Moira in the capper, “The Last Stand.”
WHERE IT RANKS
Taken piece by piece, there’s a lot of good stuff in “X2,” but because there are so many characters and plotlines, it’s not as thematically satisfying as “First Class” or “X-Men.” I rank it slightly ahead of “Origins: Wolverine,” which has a similar problem of too much being crammed into one movie. I described “X2” as a two-hour toy commercial in a newspaper review back in 2003, but even the toy line doesn’t include all of the mutants introduced here.
“X2” focuses on Wolverine’s quest for answers, but he doesn’t get any. And it’s about Rogue and Iceman trying to figure out how to have a relationship without being able to touch, but they don’t entirely figure it out (If Hank were at the school at this time, he perhaps could’ve devised a high-tech solution such as this).
A lot of the Xavier vs. Jason plot plays out in the illusions spun by Jason – who masquerades as a young girl — making for somewhat confusing viewing. And finally, Jean’s sacrifice feels tacked on by screenwriters who suddenly became more interested in the next film than this one.
“X2” is an undeniably meaty film that stays faithful to the theme of the saga (What’s the best way for mutants to deal with threats from the non-mutants in power — Magneto’s way or Xavier’s way?). But because it tries to do too much, a viewer comes away less satisfied than with the first film of the trilogy, which has a more streamlined plot and is a half-hour shorter.