Stillanerd’s Retrospective: X2: X-Men United (2003) review

This sequel to the first X-Men movie is considered one of the best in the franchise’s history. Does it still hold that title all these years later?

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When it comes to ranking the X-Men movies, X2: X-Men United (2003) usually winds up in the top five. In some cases, it’s still considered the best X-Men film of all time. It’s also one of those rare films which, according to Rotten Tomatoes, the critics and audience favorability scores are exactly the same. It certainly was profitable. It made $407 million ($559 million when adjusted for inflation) worldwide box office gross, handly beating X-Men‘s $266 million ($430 million). To fans, if X-Men was akin to the original X-Men comics from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, X2 was essentially Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.

But why? Why is this sixteen year old film still regarded as the best of the franchise, once hailed by Entertainment Weekly as “the perfect movie adaptation”? Well, when watching X2 almost immediately after watching X-Men, then comparing them side-by-side, one thing becomes immediately apparent: director Bryan Singer had a lot more to work with.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

Threads and developments from the first movie remain, and, as with most adaptations, the film also plays fast and loose with the source material. But X2 certainly has the semblance of being truer to the X-Men comics than the first.

Remember, the first X-Men movie had a strict $75 million dollar budget. After its success, 20th Century Fox gave the go-ahead for a sequel, which also meant opening up their purse strings. More money doesn’t guarantee better stories, of course, but it does allow for potentially better set design, more location shooting, better special effects (at least for 2003), a longer running time, more elaborate make-up, more fight sequences, and slightly better wigs for some of the actors.

Moreover, unlike the first film, screenwriter David Hayter, along with Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, and Zak Penn, actually mined the source material. Claremont’s graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills was a primary influence on the script, as was Wolverine’s origins with the Weapon X program, and the original Phoenix saga. Threads and developments from the first movie remain, and, as with most adaptations, the film also plays fast and loose with the source material. But X2 certainly has the semblance of being truer to the X-Men comics than the first.

It’s also one of the first superhero films which attempts to show how the boundaries between good and evil aren’t always so clearly defined. The fantastic opening sequence, in which a brainwashed Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) attacks the White House, gives justification as to why mutants would potentially be seen as national security threats. The X-Men, forced into hiding after an attack on the school, are forced to work with Magneto (Ian McKellan) in rescuing Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and other mutants from William Stryker (Brian Cox).

Credit: 20th Century Fox

[X2 is] also one of the first superhero films which attempts to show how the boundaries between good and evil isn’t always so clearly defined…Likewise, most of the characters don’t neatly fall into pure, simple hero and villain labels, either.

Likewise, most of the characters don’t neatly fall into pure, simple hero and villain labels, either. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), in protecting Xavier’s students, unleashes such excessive savagery on their attackers, it almost earned the film an R-rating. Pyro (Aaron Stanford), despite starting off as one of Xavier students, clearly relishes how his powers make him, in the words of Magneto, “a god among insects.” Xavier, it’s revealed, knew all along about Striker’s experiments on Logan. Even William Stryker (Brian Cox), the closest thing to a mustache-twirler the movie has, elicits some degree of sympathy, as we learn his son used his mutant powers to drive Striker’s wife to suicide.

What’s also remarkable is the number of subplots it ties together without losing control of the narrative. Stryker’s conspiracy to detain, subjugate, and ultimately eliminate mutants does come across like a logical outgrowth from his experiments on Logan. Wolverine himself undergoes a clearly defined character arc from loner obsessed with his past to a team player and parental figure. Even Jean Grey’s (Famke Janseen) slowly awakening into her Phoenix powers also doesn’t seem shoehorned in when the film explains in increase to her telepathic powers are due to using Cerebro in the last film.

Another advantage X2 had over X-Men is that’s it’s far more action packed and thus better paced even though it’s a longer movie. Aside from the aforementioned White House attack, Magneto’s escape from his plastic prison stands as an incredible, yet simple, display of power. Both Styker’s invasion of Xavier Mansion but especially the stand-off outside the Drake’s home are decent tension builders. Finally, Logan meeting his match in the form of Styker’s assistant Yuriko/Lady Deathstrike far surpasses the one-on-one bout between Logan and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) from the first movie.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

Ritualistic scars of “angelic script” aside, Alan Cumming’s portrayal of [Nightcrawler] is everything X-Men could’ve asked for…He’s clearly one of the film’s stand-outs, and it’s a real shame Cumming never reprised the role in future films.

X2 also isn’t shy–and is far less subtle–about some of X-Men’s central metaphors. The relationship between Rogue (Anna Paquin) and Bobby Drake, a.k.a. Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) is akin to a couple forced to cope with one partner having HIV or some other sexually transmitted disease. Bobby revealing he’s a mutant to his parents and younger brother is almost word-for-word a coming out scene. And for a film which opens and ends with a monologue about evolution, it’s also highly tolerant towards those with genuine religious faith.

I am, of course, speaking about Nightcrawler. Ritualistic scars of “angelic script” aside, Alan Cumming’s portrayal of the “fuzzy blue elf” is everything X-Men could’ve asked for. He perfectly encapsulates the character’s optimism, flamboyance, kindness, charm, adventurous spirit, and especially his devout Catholicism. Even his German accent sounds authentic. His design is also a perfect blend of practical prosthetics, make-up, and CGI, aided also by Cumming emphasizing his physical and facial movements. He’s clearly one of the film’s stand-outs, and it’s a real shame Cumming never reprised the role in future films.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

Speaking of characters, X2 clearly plays favorites among its large cast… Cyclops… completely gets the short end of the stick…No wonder fans thought the movies had it in for him.

Speaking of characters, X2 clearly plays favorites among its large cast. Wolverine and Mystique have a sizable amount of screen time, including the scene where she attempts to seduce him inside his tent. Cyclops (James Marsden), by contrast, completely gets the short end of the stick. Despite being the X-Men’s leader, he’s captured twenty minutes into the film and only reappears during the last half hour. Not to mention the movie totally builds up the romantic tension between Logan and Jean), even though the later is Cyclops’ girlfriend. No wonder fans thought the movies had it in for him.

X2 also isn’t above having it’s share of plot holes, editing mistakes, or third act problems. Magneto, despite having no telepathic powers, can still find any X-Man he wants just as he did in the first movie. Stryker, we’re told, stormed Xavier’s mansion, in part, to obtain Cerebro for building Cerebro II, even though he apparently had full schematics for Cerebro II on his computer beforehand. Nightcrawler is already in the mutant’s kid cell even though he supposed to be outside of it with Storm. And why did Jean need to go outside to lift the X-Jet, and no, “She made a choice” doesn’t cut it.

Even so, there’s no question that X2 is a definite improvement over X-Men, belonging in that lofty category of a film sequel that’s better than the first. Whether after all these years and multiple entries into the franchise later that it’s still the best X-Men movie ever is definitely up for debate. But it can also be argued that’s it’s one of the few times the X-Men under 20th Century Fox genuinely felt like the X-Men. That alone makes X2 worth a repeat viewing eighteen years later.

Things were definitely looking up for the merry mutants and Fox after having two critically acclaimed blockbusters in their pockets. But three years later, both would take a huge beating, as for next, we look back at the supposed finale of the original X-Men trilogy.