Zachary FenellReview: X-Men 2
June 15th 2009 18:13
Today I finally had the chance to sit down and watch the second X-Men movie which I had borrowed from my older brother a month ago. Parts of X-Men 2 were familiar to me but I had never seen the film from start to finish. I really enjoyed X-Men 2; in fact I think X-Men 2 may be better then the first X-Men film. The X-Men characters are multi-dimensional, the plot is intriguing, and the special effects are sights to see. But what makes X-Men 2 stand out is the blurring of the line between the good guys and bad guys.
Plots are usually black and white- there are the bad guys and there are the good guys. The X-Men have always been more complex than that though. You have your “good” guys in the X-Men and your “bad” guys like Magneto and Mystique. The complication is the humans. Humans fear the mutant population because they are different. Professor Xavier and the X-Men try to be diplomatic and work with the humans peacefully. Magneto and his villains are ready to go to war with the human population. Both Professor Xavier and Magneto have justification for their beliefs and actions proving there is no simple right or wrong solution.
With such tension between the two groups of mutants it hard to imagine the two sides working together but that is exactly what happens in X-Men 2, at least for a certain period of time. Magneto and Mystique must team with Wolverine, Storm, and Jean Grey to save the entire mutant population from the diabolical plan of Striker. With Wolverine, Storm, and Jean Grey are their star pupils Bobby (Iceman) and Rogue. Bobby and Rogue are left behind in the X-Men aircraft when the rest set off to spoil Striker’s plan, leaving the young mutants somewhat vulnerable.
After Magneto and Mystique spoil Striker’s plan by reversing it, putting all humans in danger, they leave. In the process they could have taken Bobby and Rogue because they were left unprotected by the X-Men. However, they don’t. This makes me wonder why. Is there some ethical reason Magneto decided not to prey on the unprotected, future X-Men? I’m sure the question could be debated on for hours by X-Men enthusiasts.
It is these small things that elevates X-Men 2 from a good film to a great one. I would highly recommend X-Men 2 to anyone who hasn’t seen the film.
Plots are usually black and white- there are the bad guys and there are the good guys. The X-Men have always been more complex than that though. You have your “good” guys in the X-Men and your “bad” guys like Magneto and Mystique. The complication is the humans. Humans fear the mutant population because they are different. Professor Xavier and the X-Men try to be diplomatic and work with the humans peacefully. Magneto and his villains are ready to go to war with the human population. Both Professor Xavier and Magneto have justification for their beliefs and actions proving there is no simple right or wrong solution.
With such tension between the two groups of mutants it hard to imagine the two sides working together but that is exactly what happens in X-Men 2, at least for a certain period of time. Magneto and Mystique must team with Wolverine, Storm, and Jean Grey to save the entire mutant population from the diabolical plan of Striker. With Wolverine, Storm, and Jean Grey are their star pupils Bobby (Iceman) and Rogue. Bobby and Rogue are left behind in the X-Men aircraft when the rest set off to spoil Striker’s plan, leaving the young mutants somewhat vulnerable.
After Magneto and Mystique spoil Striker’s plan by reversing it, putting all humans in danger, they leave. In the process they could have taken Bobby and Rogue because they were left unprotected by the X-Men. However, they don’t. This makes me wonder why. Is there some ethical reason Magneto decided not to prey on the unprotected, future X-Men? I’m sure the question could be debated on for hours by X-Men enthusiasts.
It is these small things that elevates X-Men 2 from a good film to a great one. I would highly recommend X-Men 2 to anyone who hasn’t seen the film.
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