X2: X-Men United -- 2003 -- PG-13

So we've gt ourselves a sequel to X-Men that does what sequels like to do. The first one establishes everything and gives us an adventure and a base. The sequel attacks the base. We get what is basically a new villain, though he turns out to be a villain for some time. We get some more Wolverine backstory and aslewof character with just enough characterization to let us know who they are and tell them apart. Then, with as many charactersas this film has, to fully characterize them would create a movie of epic proportions.

One thing about these films that has always intrigued me is the emphsis on the popular opinion about mutants. Racism anyone? Except this one is sanctioned and right. It even goes so far to have a family turn on their own, and one conversation of "I'm a mutant" sounded like one where he might have said "I'm gay."

We do get some stuff that's just weird though. A headpiece was put on Xavier at one point and in the film, it just disappears. Turns out a deleted scene shows it being removed. There's also a curious lack of blood when Wolverine starts hacking people. And is he really that indestructable? Maybe that's how he is in the comic books, but it seemed almost over the top.

My biggest beef was essentially a cheap shot near the end. When everyone gets on the plane, it conveniently has problems. One character opts to sacrifice themself, but upon leaving, enables the plane to take off. I'm thinking, why didn't this person do this before? It didn't make sense. According to everything that happened, there was no reason for this to occur. It served for very little dramatic impact, since the characters were not painted fully enough for a death to actually hurt. I found it pointless and a very bad way to close the film, since (while unexpected), it almost cheapened the experience.

Beyond this, it was a well-constructed film. Everything was setup and while a knowledge of the first film is useful in understanding the second, it isn't 100% required. So a good job was done here and it is worth watching. not perfect, but what is?