X-Men 2: X-Men United

Starring Hugh Jackman, Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Brain Cox, Alan Cumming, Famke Jansen, James Marsden and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (whew!)

Directed by Bryan Singer

I really do see movies that aren’t based on the comics I read as a kid, I swear. The thing is, none of them are nearly this fun. This sucker is a thrill ride from beginning to end, a great action flick, an honest statement about bigotry, a morality tale, a character study, it’s all there. In the latest installment, The X-Men are hunted by a very human villian, the anti-mutant bigot Col. William Stryker. This provides Singer with the oppurtunity to more fully explore what it means to be a mutant, and on the large metaphorical scale, what it means to be different. Another critic recently wrote that X-Men is about being gay, and he was correct to the extent that X-Men is about being black (which Halle Berry is) or being Jewish (which Magneto is, and Sir McKellen is an openly gay man to boot). This has always been the underlying message in the comic, and Singer (also a gay man) is the perfect director to pay homage to that tradition. He also pays homage to the traditions that the comic hordes demand, keeping the characters true to their roots, and developing persoanl relationships between them that are complex and very real, which is the other reason we love X-Men (When I say we, I mean me). Here, we get a more thourogh picture of Wolverine’s rage at his victimhood, his love for Jean Grey, Storm’s anger at a world that hates her for being different, Nightcrawler’s nobility, here to the point of piety, in accepting his extreme physical differences as a blessing instead of a curse, and Magneto’s deep hatred for those that would persecute him and his people. Here, my only wish is that the deeply passionate side of Magneto were more fully explored. He is a great deal more evil here than when last we saw him, commiting one very painful on-screen murder (and man it was cool looking), and attempting to murder nearly everyone on the planet. The extensive addition of new characters allows what the story telling in the comics allowed for, the ability to see diversity from multiple points of view. Mystique, more fully realized this time and well played by Romijn-Stamos (and hot a fire to boot), carries an indignant anger towards people who presecute her because while she can look like whomever she wants, she choses to look horrific, as is her right. Her anger matches well with Nightcrawler’s noble acceptance. Logan continues to question who he is, the ulitmate self expression everyone goes through, minority or no. Rouge, Pyro and Iceman provide the unique perspective of teens, struggling to define themselves and seeking acceptance from their families and from each other in a world that has defined them as different, the one thing few teenagers want to be.

Ok, and then the MOVIE KICKS ASS! Wolverine must have killed 30 people on screen, no holds barred for him this go-round. Seriously, the first big summer movie blockbuster has nailed it right on the head. 5 Cell phones, but still not as good as the script that I wrote. Thankfully, most elements of that can be translated into a script for the next installment. Look for X3: Rise of the Pheonix in about 2005. Gotta go, lots of writing to do. Excelsior!