The X-Files: X2: X-Men United (2003)

With the big success of the first X-Men feature back in 2000, 20th Century Fox quickly went ahead with a sequel with a 2003 release date. Again, numerous areas and potential character developments were dropped due to budgetary and time reasons (despite the increased amount given to the filmmakers), but the sequel not only surpassed its predecessor in terms of box office receivings, but also went on to being one of the franchise's biggest hits critically, with many to this day exclaiming the sequel to be the series' high point and earning numerous Saturn awards. But with so many films since released and a first instalment which was more average than expected, can the union of good and evil be enough to make this feature a big hit? 

Some time after talks for a Mutant Registration Act have died down, the emergence of an assassination attempt by one such mutant (Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler) brings about fears within the walls of the White House, and while the fake Senator Kelly – in actuality Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) in disguise – is somewhat precarious about reinstating talks one William Stryker (Brian Cox) wishes to take action. With plenty of mutants already under his thumb including the imprisoned Magneto (Ian McKellen), he intends on using the machinery known as Cerebro, which helps Professor X (Patrick Stewart) locate mutants, to capture them. With Jean and Storm (Famke Janssen and Halle Berry respectively) off searching for the President's attempted murderer and Xavier and Cyclops (James Marsden) captured by the enemy, it's up to Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and company to team up with their former foes and to stop Styker's schemes from potentially destroying mutant kind as they know – with Wolverine having a forgotten personal past with the military scientist... 

Whereas the previous instalment to the X-Men mythos stuck to a singular storyline to mild success, this budding sequel focuses on its main large storyline and injects some much-needed substance to it. Granted, the basic A-story itself is a good way to go at expanding the universe built up, but with character-based arcs either continued on from the little bits caught previously or from brand new characters lends to a lot less pacing issues across its extended two hour runtime. While certain characters such as Cyclops are still sidelined under the weight of a massive cast of actors, and the expansion of the Jean/Logan/Scott arc introduced previously still lacks in weight thanks to a absence of chemistry, scenes such as the tension between Bobby and John (Shawn Ashmore and Aaron Stanford) and Bobby revealing to his parents that he's a mutant – an obvious allegory for being homosexual but played out well – do pad out the film to an enjoyable degree. And with invigorated humour also making certain elements entertaining, it altogether makes up a stronger movie solely for its screenplay. 

With such a large cast and numerous elements to juggle, it's impressive how returning director Bryan Singer managed to survive and make the film he did, but he sure did deliver. With action sequences and computer-generated effects both getting big improvements and a bigger scale to play with, Singer manages to create a film which, while not entirely gorgeous in the aesthetic or cinematography departments, does do a great job at bringing all these individual elements together to create the film we end up seeing. By this point it’s evident that he has a stronger understanding of the characters and knows which cards to play at which points, and as such manages to create the reputation fans of the franchise have given him – no wonder he returned for future instalments following the two disasters that followed. 

With Hugh Jackman once again being the main man to follow, he's given himself a bit of an upgrade in terms of hairstyling and overall physique, but once again remains the rightful star of the show. With moments of levity and a main B-story relating to the villain which gives the character a lot of backbone – not to mention one of the franchise's most memorable fight sequences between himself and Kelly Hu - it instigates the character that has since been made so memorable. Stewart and McKellen sadly don't get as much dialogue between the two compared to last time, but still do a superb job as the two at odds with their beliefs; Berry gets more screentime, and even grows a rapport with Cummings which feels genuine, but her accent still seems irksome; Jansse does great with her subplot and creates a real sense of emotion with her final moments but the missing chemistry between her and her fellow actors does make certain scenes feel rather forced; Marsden is pushed aside sadly but does what he can in what little he has to do; Romijn continues to shine as Mystique; Brian Cox as Strykeris certainly intimidating for a powerless villain; Cumming quickly creates a memorable character which will sadly be pushed aside in the sequel; and the trio of mutants in the form of Anna Paquin, Ashmore and Stanford are fine if a little underused by the time act three rolls in. 

X2: X-Men United (or just X-Men 2 in some areas) is a film that may still have a few flaws going for it, but has grown on what the first film created to make a successor more successful in practically every area. With the all-star cast not giving out a bad performance, good direction and a huge improvement with story-telling, X2 only really falters with finding some of its large array of characters a purpose or pushing aside certain aspects in favour for the bigger stories. Add a main chemistry between three of the main adult actors which is all talk and no see, it undersells the romantic aspect that is the typical superhero movie trope. 8/10.