Movie Review: X-Men 2
- wadE
This past weekend while in North Carolina...at the Outer Banks...Kill Devil Hills to be more precise. Speaking
of, did you know that the Wright brothers actually took their flight in Kill Devil Hills, but the nearest telegraph
office was in Kitty Hawk. It's true...in Kill Devil Hills they have this huge monolith dedicated to the Wright
Brothers...
But I digress...the weather was uber-shitty (3 hours of sun all weekend), so I found myself in the movie
theatre watching X-Men 2.
First off, let me say that although I've never collected or purchased more than 2 comic books in my life (one of
those two was sending in a couple bucks along with a pile of Proofs of Purchase to the Kool-Aid company to get
the Kool-Aid Man Battles The Thirsties comic book...I'm serious). Regardless, I have been a fan of the X-Men since
I was 9. I would go over to my friend Ryan's house and read all of his comic books. Since then Wolverine has
been my favorite X-man, even with the horrible yellow costume he wore in the comic book. Thank God they didn't
bring that along into the movies.
Needless to say, I enjoyed the first movie even though it was a bit hokey, and it involved way too much Rogue
(for some reason I don't like Anna Paquin).
We'll start with the trailers (or as most prefer to call them, "previews"). There was the obligatory Matrix 2
preview...to which I thought: What if this movie totally sucks...which I honestly think it could. As Alex has
mentioned, the first movie didn't have the greatest plot in the world, it really got by on its special effects.
This one looks even more like it was purely created on computer...maybe a couple of blue screen scenes with
Keanu. Especially because of the scene with about 100 Hugo Weavings (Agent Smith/Elrond) attacking him.
I'm sure the movie and the next installment due out later this year (guess they figured they aren't going to
win too many Oscars, so why hold off on the third one until next year) will do phenomenal business. The special
effects will be incredible, and that's all that people are really looking for from their Matrix movies.
The other preview I want to talk about was one that I thought at first was some sort of Indiana Jones sequel.
Shots of Sean Connery in Indy-esque gear galavanting about...but then there's a shot of someone out of A.I. (something that looks like that
one robot that just has a face and the rest of the head is missing)... then there are a couple of scenes that make
you think it's some sort of Around the World in Eighty Days type of movie. To make a long story short, (too late)
the movie is "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". I thought that maybe if this movie had the advantage of a
movie like X-Men, where people know the characters, it might be able to get by with the flimsy premise it presented
in the preview.
Funny I thought that because I did some research and..."A free adaptation of the popular comic book series
compiled by ALAN MOORE. Bizarre fantasy in which a group of heroes, heroines and other tortured souls straight
from the pages of the world's best loved literature, be it adventure, sci-Fi or fantasy, are commissioned by
Queen Victoria to combat the threat of a madman bent on world domination."
Ah...so it's just like X-Men in that it's based on a comic book and should have a built-in audience. Either
way, it looked like it had potential...it could be really stupid though.
Ok, enough...on to the review...which will be tough without giving anything away.
So at a high level... great movie. The special effects are excellent as always. Although I would highly
advise seeing the first X-Men movie beforehand. They jump right into the action from the start, so there isn't
any of that "get you up to speed on who everyone is" stuff. The storyline in this movie is much better than the
first; and without spoiling anything...one of the good guys doesn't make it through the movie.
Also there is a whole lot of Wolverine in this movie, which makes the guys happy (because he's cool) and makes
the girls happy (because he's hot). There also isn't too much Cyclops, which made me happy. Although he wasn't
the best in the comic book, they've made him extra annoying in the movies.
