Reviewed by: Becca, Joe, & Kris

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Produced by: Lauren Shuler-Donner, Ralph Winter, & Avi Arad

Cast: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, & Brian Cox

Science Fiction/Fantasy and Action/Adventure 2 hrs. 14 min.

An attack on the President of the United States by a mutant has renewed support for the Mutant Registration Act. William Stryer, a military leader, has been given the green light to launch an offensive against the mansion. Stryker’s own mission is to eradicate all of the mutants from the planet, using Professor X. Are the X-Men able to save the mutants?

I really enjoyed the first X-Men movie, and this by far surpassed it. The story was thicker and richer, and the action was just dreamy. My favorite part was upon occansion they would throw in a mutant/mutant's name that wasn't part of the story just yet. Like when Mystic is searching through a computer, she finds what she is looking for, but just above it is another X-Men's name, take a guess as to who it is. Another time when they are in a bar another Mutant is on television. Things like that really add to the story, especially for comic book/cartoon fans of X-Men.

What I didn't like was that they did not explain who Yuriko was in any way shape or form. Besides to say she had the same healing power as Wolverine. Other then that this movie excells where it's predecessor failed. Of course, the first was just for movie fans who had no idea who the X-men were at all. You do NOT have to see the first one in order to understand this movie, if you are a X-men fan. However, if you are truly an X-Men fan, you have already seen the first one.

X2: X-Men United is a huge leap from the somewhat disappointing original. Close to perfection, there are some things to pick at. There were some members of the cast that seemed to be pointlessly placed in the film. Among those would be Kelly Hu as Lady Deathstrike. Her character was almost pointless outside of the fight at the end with Logan. The role of Cyclops seemed to be pointless as well in this film as he was not scene almost at all except at the very beginning and at the end.

There were a lot of action sequences but maybe a little too much. Eliminating one or two of the sequences would have been fine. They weren't bad, there just seemed to be too much thrown at the audience in two hours. And the ending, though magnificently done, will confuse many movie-goers not familiar with the comic-book or cartoon series. But maybe a better explanation will be shown in X-Men 3. The summer begins with a bang and if others films turn out like X2, we are in for one Hell of a summer.

This movie is awesome. I have already seen this movie twice, and I would definitely go see it again. The action scenes are some of the best I have ever seen. The plot is fairly interesting also. I must say that my new favorite character is Nightcrawler. He speaks German, and has the coolest power. I like this movie a lot; it’s the best sequel I have seen since the Two Towers, and the best comic adapted movie I have ever seen. Go see this movie if you liked the cartoon, comic book, the first movie, or if you liked Spiderman.