Franchisicide Vol. 1, Book Two

You know how Hitler invaded Russia and completely lost the war because of it only 100 years after Napoleon did the same thing? History repeats itself. Just like how Spider-Man came out and made a shitload of money all while being a terrible film, then Spider-Man 2 came out and kicked ass. You couldn't have asked for a better Spider-Man film than Spider-Man 2.

So X-Men came out, sucked a big dick and made a shitload of money. Then, X-Men 2 came out, kicked a ton of ass and made a shitload of money. You couldn't ask for a better X-Men film than X-Men 2.

I don't see where this stigma of bad sequels comes from. I can name a bunch. Sure, there are more bad sequels than there are good sequels, but there are more bad films than there are good to begin with. I digress.

X-Men 2 takes all the problems with the first film and jettisons them into orbit. Finally, the action stops screeching to a halt so Professor X can drone on about the canon. The script explains the world this film exists in with intelligence and subtlety, streamlining a lot of the unnecessary details. The film stops screeching to a halt so that we can have the obligatory action scenes. We advance the plot with these action scenes. They fit into the film, unlike the first film where every one of those scenes could have been removed and had no effect on the story.

Also, with a cast this large, making the action scenes that bland and disposable is simply not an option. The characters need to develop in the action and the plot needs to advance in the action.

And while we're on the subject of action, the fight choreography and wirework are infinitely better this time around, making action scenes you want to watch. Characters like Nightcrawler are used to their fullest advantage with some very creative action scenes, including a showstopping fight scene in the White House that opens the film and gives us a sense of mystery to propel the story forward.

Storm and Cyclops' characters remain slightly underwritten but nowhere near the way they were last time, and Jean Gray gets more time to develop in this film.

Wolverine gets some more elbow room, too, and Hugh Jackman does wonderful things with the role. My favorite bit was the action scene (imagine that! Character development in an action scene) in the school where Wolverine turns around and stabs the SWAT member in the chest. Wolverine's signature berserker rage is portrayed perfectly by Jackman, and you really get an idea of how dangerous Wolverine is when he starts killing the SWAT team.

In summary, this was a much, much better film than the first and exactly what I'd want from the X-Men franchise. Brian Singer seems to have grown up as a director and he's layed out a perfect template for a third installment that not even Bret Ratner could screw up. I am visibly excited for the third installment, which I will watch this evening. Stay tuned, phantom readers.