X2 X-Men United
Synopsis:Stryker (Brian Cox), a villainous former Army commander, holds the key to Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman) past and the future of the X-Men. This threat re-ignites the call for a mutant registration act. Stryker starts a full-out assault on Professor Xavier's (Patrick Stewart) mansion and school. After escaping his plastic cell, Magneto (Ian McKellen) proposes a partnership with Xavier and the X-Men to combat this new formidable enemy they both have in common.
Movie Review: "X2: X-Men United" is one of my favorite comic book sequels of all time (actually it is tied with "X-Men Days of Future Past". This film does what a sequel should do — you get to learn more information about the main characters and it is a more action packed and entertaining than the first movie. In this sequel, a mutant named Night crawler attempts to assassinate the president's life and the X-Men must band together to find him. Meanwhile, the mutant academy is attacked by military forces led by William Stryker which causes the X-men to join forces with their enemy, Magneto to face this new formidable enemy that they both have in common. What I love about this movie is that you get to learn more about Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman) past and discover that the villain Stryker was the one who gave him the adamantium skeleton and the memory wipe that caused him not to remember who he is. Once again the acting in this movie is superb. Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, and Ian McKellen were born to play these characters; and Bryan Cox who plays Stryker was intimidating, psychotic and insane. The action sequences in this film are way better than its predecessor with better visual effects that never seem to age even though the film was made in 2003. My two favorite action sequences in this film have to be when the X-Mansion gets invaded by Stryker's soldiers and Wolverine has to defend the Mansion from them. This entire scene was action packed and violent just like in the comics. My second favorite action scene in this movie has to be the fight between Wolverine and Lady Death strike (Kelly Hu). It was well choreographed and the characters were totally in sic. The most tear jerking moment has to be when Jean Grey (Famke Jansen) sacrifices herself to save the entire team from dying. It is one of the most emotional scenes in any X-Men movie; she was a great character that the audience connected with. In my opinion, "X2: X-Men United" delivers an entertaining sequel with bigger and better action scenes with a great well-written script that expands on character development. I am giving "X2- X-Men United a 5 out of 5 stars.
Director: Bryan Singer
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian Mackellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Shawn Ashmore, and Aaron Stanford
Runtime: 134 minutes