X-Men 2
x-men 2 (crappy subtitle: x-men united)
first off, let me insult something real quick. because, as you will see, there isn't much to insult about this film. The title is stupid. No, not "attack of the xerox's" stupid, but still head-scratchingly boring. My oh my, how many interns did it take to think of the idea of "X-Men United". Four? I hope it was four.
Ok, it seems to be in the reviewer's ethics handbook that you must have a summary somewhere in the text, so I'm going to do it right here: boom boom, ouchie, boom boom, laser!, kazaap, boom.
phew, now onto the actual review.
X-Men 2 rocked, hard. If I were british I'd be screaming some incoherant babble like "nevermind the bollocks, X-Men 2!". Indeed, it is that good. Ok, it's not change-the-world good. It's not even slap-the-ice-cream-guy good. It's just a darn fine movie made with skill and aplombe.
I used aplombe so well there.
Anyway. Here's why: actors acted, and directors directed, and writers wrote, and editors edited, and so-on. For some reason, I watch movies these days and see an overbearing quality to someone's contribution. Some level of the creative process was opressed onto all the others, making an uneven film. Surely, this isn't a major problem (bugger), but it is a hinderance. When the writers write a good script, the actors are all allowed to act (and not phone-in their performances), and the director is given a semblance of respect, the film just goes better. Writers have been given the respect of toadstools over the years; some even claim they are an underappreciated minority. The issue is that these days, the script is written, and then it is placed into the hands of marketing executives until it is molded into something that fits a demographic. Sure, sometimes the script survives with a level of intelligence, but normally it is dumb-ified down as to not offend the perceived "stupids" of the world. Ok, I need to stop now. Wasn't I reviewing a movie? yeah.
I give X-Men credit for casting. Patrick Stewart is perfect, along with Ian McKellan, and Hugh Jackman, and everyone else I can name. Sure, I didn't read the comic book, but the only character I can say was wooden was Collosus, and that might be his personality, so I'll leave it alone. Brian Cox... awesome. After seeing Adaptation, I respected the man, but this role just made me like him even more. There are so many characters in this film; so many storylines. Each actor only has a few moments to chew. Cox, Jackman, everyone, does it right. They get the face right, which can say more than a thousand lines of crappy dialogue.
And who gets these actors these shots? Bryan Singer of course. After Apt Pupil, I started doubting his talent, but this movie just convinced me that he's a solid director. He made sure that these characters were people most of the time, and that is not an easy thing to do in such a big story. Even in Spider-Man, I didn't fully accept the Green Goblin. In here, there are few bubbles of discontent.
The score was alright, the cinematography was very good, the special effects... rocked.
Lemme say that the first five minutes are freakin huge. I count nightcrawler's introduction as one of the coolest action sequences in my movie-going history. It suspends reality without seeming wastefully extravagent. my oh my.
Ok, I'll end this lovefest by saying this: from top to bottom, this movie is my favorite first-watching comic movie. Its better than blade, better than spider-man, better than whatever I can think of. Sure, further viewings will be the true test of the coolness, but overally, I'm satisfied that I won't be dissappointed.
Indeed, this film is worth seeing the theater. It isn't the savior of cinema; it isn't a stalwart character study to change perspective; but it's one of the coolest 2 hours I've spent in the theater.
But I'm a geek fanboy, so you might not want to listen to me.
I give it 3.5 out of 4.
X-Men 2: X-Men United is currently in wide release. |
