Goodness, there sure have been a lot of movies based on comic books coming out in the past few years. We've seen "Spiderman" and its sequel, "Elektra," "Daredevil," "Sin City," "Hellboy," "The Punisher," and probably a few others I'm forgetting. Heck, we can expect to see new installments in the "Superman" and "Batman" franchises soon, too. Personally, I haven't seen any of the above listed films with the exception of the first Spiderman, and it's likely I won't see more than a couple of them any time soon. I'm not trying to bash comic books or anything like that, but for some reason I tend to shy away from films based on this medium. Why? I hear very bad things about many of these films, most of which involve complaints about how the films forego important things like plot and character development in favor of shock and awe special effects. If I remember correctly from my comic book reading days, most of the stories dealt heavily with superheroes faced with moral quandaries and personality problems that translated over into the real world. Not so in the movies. The emphasis here is on blowing stuff up and using the biggest CGI effects possible.

There are exceptions: "Spiderman" did a good job focusing on the characters' problems. So did "X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United." I have seen these movies, and I liked all three of them. "X2," however, is arguably the best of the lot. The film continues the story of the characters we saw in the first film--namely Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), Cyclops (James Marsden), Rogue (Anna Paquin), Magneto (Ian McKellen), and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos)--while adding a few new faces. After the X-Men saved the world in the first film, not much changed regarding human/mutant relations. Normal people still freak out whenever they see someone shape change, produce fire out of thin air, or any of the other assorted abilities common to mutants. The opening sequences of "X2" do little to alleviate such fears. An attack on the White House by a mutant with the ability to teleport (Nightcrawler, played effectively by Alan Cumming) nearly costs the president his life. The result is a crackdown on mutants everywhere with the resurrection of the dreaded Mutant Registration Act, a draconian measure that will severely restrict the activities of mutants everywhere.

The man in charge of carrying out the new act is General William Stryker (deliciously evil Brian Cox), a man whose new mission allows him to carry out his own personal vendetta against Xavier and his protégés. I won't spoil the reasons behind the vendetta, but his official mission sees him launch an attack against Xavier's school in order to round up the freaks. Unfortunately, he picked a bad time to make an appearance--Wolverine is back from his soul searching and is ready to kick some serious you know what. While he assists in salvaging what he can from the fiasco at Xavier's pad, the rest of the X-Men are out and about trying to track down the mutant responsible for the attack on the White House. If they can find this person, they reason, they might be able to head off the impending crackdown. Of course, their mission soon discovers that Stryker's fingerprints are all over the place. Too, Magneto manages to escape from his plastic prison and, with the oddly alluring Mystique at his side, throws a few wrenches into the whole process. By the time the movie comes to an end, we've seen the overall storyline advance amidst an avalanche of mind-blowing special effects including but not limited to huge tornados, rushing walls of water, and whipsaw quick fight sequences. Fun stuff!

Heartfelt thanks should go to director Bryan Singer for masterfully balancing the action and CGI with numerous character driven arcs. It's great to see fights and mutant powers blasting away at everything in sight, don't get me wrong, but it's more interesting to see how the characters develop. And in that department Singer and company do a good job. The whole human versus mutant conflict receives fresh treatment, as does Wolverine's eternal struggle to understand who he is and how he came to be. The latter is probably the most intriguing element in the storyline due to its relevancy. Who among us hasn't struggled to understand our identity at some point in life? Of course, most of us haven't been the subject of government experimentation that grafted metal to our bones and wiped our memories clean in the process, but you get the idea. And while the movie simplifies that theme so even the densest dolts in the audience will catch on, it's still an almost universal human issue that resonates with all of us. CGI and character dynamics aside, "X2" is a lot of fun if for no other reason than checking out all the babes. Halle Berry (not a favorite of mine), Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, and Kelly Hu provide more than enough eye candy for us older "kids" in the audience.

"X2: X-Men United" has something for everyone. And check out the extras on the two-disc set! That's what I call a DVD! I won't waste time going over them in detail except to say that the sheer number of supplements guarantees a viewer can spend plenty of time exploring every aspect of this film's production process if he or she wishes to do so. If you haven't seen "X2" yet, prepare to be blown away. One hopes the next installment will surpass the previous two, but the absence of Singer behind the camera should cause some concerns. Oh well, even if the next one stinks we've still got these two great films to watch over and over again.

This is another favorite movie of mine. It is really well done. The action and the special effects are really cool. If you like superhero action flicks, you'll like this movie.

X2 is one of hollywoods greatest movie sequels that rivals the first movie in every way. Better story, better acting ,better action scenes, better music, better characters, and better suspense. This is what all sequels should be like. Bryan Singer did a great job with continuing the X-men series with a thrilling second chapter that can be called "The Empire Strikes Back" of this trilogy. It keeps gettng better and better, and I only hope that X-men 3 can do the same, and continue the series to an explosive conclusion without director Bryan Singer at the helm. Good luck Matthew Vaugn, and do the very best job that you can to pull it off.

With the success of the first X-Men, and the Spider-Man movie, it was only a matter of time before a sequel was made.

In a spectacular action sequence that opens the movie, the President is attacked and threatened by a mutant. Professor Xavier sends is Senior pupils to track him down. When they do, they find that there is something very wrong about the whole situation. Soon after, the school is attacked and the mutants get split up and venture across the country. Magento, still imprisoned in a plastic cell, finds a way to escape and join up with Xavier's group.

Everyone returns from the first movie and some other mutants from the long running comic series are introduced. Colossus crashes into the story line, but is all too quickly shoved aside, a shame considering his popularity in the comic. A young but brash Pyro comes on the scene with an obvious pre-disposition of becoming evil. But the most impressive is Nightcrawler, played with complete bravada and emotion by Alan Cumming. Brian Cox plays William Stryker, the Government scientist bent on destroying the mutants through his resources in the military. He plays a bad guy so well you love to hate him.

The story and characters are solid and riveting. All returning actors play their roles with comfort and stride. All are given plenty to do. Along the way story lines weave in and out of one another. The attraction between Jean Grey and Logan heats up, as well as with Rogue and Bobby (Iceman). Storm and Nightcrawler form an obvious bond as she reassures him that he can belong in society while he sparks her desire to have faith in God.

The action scenes are fantastic and brutal in some places, especially with Wolverine in full fighting mode, he doesn't care if he kills anyone. The movie works it's way into a tragic ending that leaves the story open for another chapter, one that fans of the comic are well aware of and are most likely hoping will be continued.