X2: X-Men United

Overlong and playful, X2 teases and hints but never fully delivers. Within a mythological / allegorical tale of mutants who are rejected by society, director Bryan Singer meshes these two themes and the result is awkward. With lines like "Have you ever tried not being a mutant" that allude to gay rights, and the competition of ideology between the two lead mutants Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellan) its hard to not think of X2 as an allegorical film. But then there are so many mindless action sequences that pale in comparison to modern day action film climaxes of explosions, that the film can only be seen as a goofy extravaganza. X-MEN was a decent film because it presented a certain mystery about its characters and their motives, and by its end, I was excited for its sequel, because so much of X-MEN's faults lay within its necessity to set everything up. X2 should be exciting, but within the film, it alludes to a better film, a better version of X2 that was never made. In X2, the strange Mystique (a shape shifter played recognizably by Rebecca Romijn) breaks into a lab and beats everyone up. The reaction of the Professor X led mutants is along the lines of 'hot damn' and Magneto lazily says that nobody has any idea how great she is. Here I agree with Magneto [A sentence that makes no sense out of context]. We, the audience, really don't know how awesome Mystique is because we're only getting to see a portion of what she does. This is what the whole film is like, which is 132 minutes long and drags terribly. Without any central figure, a lame villain, and uneven storytelling, X2 becomes a major disappointment.
X2: ★★