X-Men 2 (2003)

The original X-Men film was a surprise success, not hampered by a fairly modest budget, because they got the right actors for the job. That goes a long way in selling anything.

So they expanded on the story in the follow-up and it is every bit an improvement as you might expect. The bigger budget helped some as well for bigger setpieces and more intense action.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The core players all return, this time with the addition of Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, and Brian Cox as Stryker, a person who has some connection to Wolverines past. The stakes are raised and the outcome is relatively uncertain.

All in all: this film has a lot of tension building and it does the series a world of good.

The racism-link (what the X-Men is pretty much about) is personified this time in the guise of Stryker, a colonel who has rather personal reasons for being an asshat to mutants. That makes for a decent villain, but he is never cartoonish. He is believable in his reasoning and therefore all the better as an antagonist. The character of Wolverine is expanded upon a little, even though you will all know this stuff if you had ever read the comics or seen the animated series. The duality between Xavier and Magneto also gets some new insight, in short: this one is all about character. Not to mention that the dialogue is a lot snappier than the first time around.

But if there are several things to take away from this one, it is a number of setpieces and scenes that will leave indelible imprints in the brain. The opening sequence in the White House sets up the tension and it is done very well. The assault on the school is tense and ups the ante and the showdown at Alkali Lake and 'duel' between minds rounds it all up nicely. Or what about Magneto's escape from his prison? There are also hints that the Phoenix-storyline was to come next, but that will be left for 'The Last Stand'. That one is for another time.

Also don't forget that painfully realistic scene between some of the X-Men and the parents of Bobby Drake. It is done splendidly.

What's not to like about this one? The characters are more fleshed out (except Cyclops, naturally) and their banter is a lot better than the first one, the action setpieces are bigger and better and the story flows a lot more smoothly.

This is a sequel done right. And if there is at least one X-Men film you should see, it's this one. You don't really need to have seen the first one either.

Highly recommended.