Last night Jen, Jess, Ben, James, and I saw X2 at AMC Van Ness here in San Francisco. I wasn’t too impressed by the first installment of the Marvel Comics story of Professor X, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and the rest of the gang. But X2 — named simply that in the title screen of the film itself, and also billed under the name “X-Men 2” and “X-Men 2: X-Men United” — was just awesome. The action was nonstop, the special effects were excellent, the acting was solid, and the story was intense. Combine all that with mutants with kick-ass powers and some super-sexy stars (Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique, Halle Berry as Storm, Kelly Hu as Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike) and you have the recipe for a thoroughly entertaining and visually pleasing film. My favorite characters from the film were probably Nightcrawler (new in this film), Mystique, Jean Grey, and, of course, Wolverine, who’s been a long-time favorite of mine (I still have Wolverine #1 somewhere, which could be worth several hundred dollars if I could ever find it again).
I would certainly see X2 again and will add it to my DVD collection when available. This summer movie season is off to a great start.
Next up: Matrix Reloaded.
