The film begins. We are shown a tour guide leading students and adults through the White House in Washington, DC. It seems normal enough. A security guard notices someone straying off the path and asks if he is lost. The man raises his head, and a tail flicks out from behind him. Before the security guard can do anything he is down on the ground, alerting all security in the area of a mutant attack.

The blue creature, known later as Nightcrawler, teleports past dozens of guards and kicks and whips them with his tail and fists. Finally the action dies down with the creature being shot (not killed), and we are left to catch our breaths. Reader, I'll tell you, it took me a few moments to catch mine.

It sure looks as if "X2" is on the right track for a sequel, and if anything, it seems better. The budget is obviously bigger as we see the truly amazing special effects in the beginning of the film, and though the action never quite again reaches its high-point as in the beginning, it sets the film up for other non-stop action sequences, just like the James Bond movies are known for doing.

But that's not all "X-Men 2," or "X2" as the posters abbreviate, is all about. It has an important human element that adds to the pure, non-stop, full-blooded action-spectaculars throughout the film. The cast is bigger, the budget is bigger, the story is bigger, and the action is plentiful. Teenagers will enjoy the action side, and adults will probably enjoy the human side to the story. It seamlessly combines both these two elements/techniques even more than the original film did. I didn't expect to enjoy this film more than the first, but I must say I did.

It reunites the old cast for a continuation of the struggle for mutants and humans to live together in the same world.

The film begins with an assassination attempt on the president's life, carried out by a teleporting mutant. This act upsets the entire world, and the president is about to begin the mutant-human war predicted by Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) in the first film. In an effort to get to the bottom of the attack on the president's life, and prevent world-wide war, Xavier sends out Storm (Halle Berry) and Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) to search for the teleporting mutant and discover the truth behind the assassination attempt.

Meanwhile, Logan "Wolverine" (Hugh Jackman) has returned to Xavier's mansion after searching for any signs of his past. He has found none. He is greeted by Rogue (Anna Paquin) and her new boyfriend Bobby "Iceman," who was briefly seen in the first film and is given a deeper character backdrop in this film.

But soon things start to turn for the worst as an attack on Xavier's mansion is led by Stryker (Brian Cox), the man behind the assassination attempt, who wants all mutants to be killed off. He kidnaps Charles Xavier, and reveals that he wishes for Charles to kill all mutants.

How? By focusing Xavier's psychic powers/telepathy on a particular group of people, Xavier can actually kill them. So Stryker plans to use his disowned mutant son (who also has psychic powers) to control Xavier's mind (sort of) and focus on all the mutants in the world, automatically killing them.

With this plot in motion, Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) has little time to free Eric "Magneto," which results in a truly amazing escape sequence which I will not spoil for you.

Now, in an ironic moment, old enemies must fight together to bring down Stryker before his plan follows through. But the band of X-Men are far from solving their problems, as a new mutant, Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) may stand in their way of defeating Stryker. And Wolverine may also find the key to his past in this mess.

"X-Men 2," unlike other sequels, improves upon itself. Tragic sequels go to the dogs when the filmmakers are either too proud to try and surpass the original, or are too arrogant to even attempt it. "X-Men" was an excellent comic-book adaptation, in more ways than one, and "X-Men 2" is only better. It contains more action than "Spider-Man" and its human factor is even more active than it was in the original, which is ironic, since the original was praised for having both action and human attributes.

The cast is first-class, but the real scene-stealer, just like in the original, is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. The Aussie actor disguises his accent with a rough American one, just like British chap Bob Hoskins did in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". If the filmmakers want a new James Bond after Pierce Brosnan, they need look no farther, because though he may not look the part in this film, Jackman can look very suave and proper (see "Kate and Leopold"), and is my top choice for the next Bond.

Comic book films are usually hit-or-miss. They're never in between. "X-Men" was an unexpected hit, but more than that, a good unexpected hit. It wasn't all hype. It was smart, action-packed and hat a great character side to it. Like I said before, "X-Men 2" improves upon all this and is the rare sequel that is better than its predecessor.

I expect "X-Men 2" to break some box office records, and unlike other films, I can honestly say that it deserves it.

4.5/5 stars -

John Ulmer

Not that the first film was bad, because actually I still found it good, well-made fun for all its flaws. It's just that whereas the first X-Men film did feel like the beginning of a franchise that was yet to properly find its feet, it was found with X2. X2 isn't perfect either but still a very good film that is bigger and darker than the first and all the better for it. Again X2 is very well-made, with the dark visual style still maintained yet with a slightly grander look. The photography is beautiful and atmospheric, and the special effects are better here too, they were good in the first that they're slicker, bolder and eye-popping in the way that the first film didn't quite but almost did achieve. Whilst Michael Kamen's score in the first was fine, John Ottman's score here is an improvement being more in tune with the atmosphere and what's happening in the story.

The script is even sharper here and with more depth, the humour and comic one-liners are witty and genuinely funny, they are not cheesy or out-of-place nor are they too much. There is a melancholic tone too that is dark and quite poignant and the romantic elements are sweet but never too soap-opera-ish. The story is where the darker and bigger terms most apply, apart from a couple of parts that could have slowed down and explained themselves more you are glued to your seat almost the entire time and emotionally connect with scenes and characters too. The assault on the White House sequence is exciting and a brilliant way to start the film, and it is true that the climax here puts the climax of the first in the shade, it's not contrived in the slightest and you are biting your nails. X2 does a great job mostly with the characters, where they are more complex and relatable.

Although once again Storm and Cyclops are underdeveloped, otherwise Wolverine is a gritty and identifiable anti-hero, and of the other characters Nightcrawler was most effective. Though once again credit is due for making Magneto much more than a stereotypical villain. X2 is very well played by the cast, with the standouts being Hugh Jackman's charismatic Wolverine, Ian McKellen's menacing Magneto with shades of melancholy, Alan Cumming's camp yet affecting Nightcrawler and Brian Cox who plays Stryker with relish without falling into cliché territory. Also good are Rebecca Romijin-Stamos who continues to be sexy and icy, and her transformation sequences are among the visual highlights of the film and Patrick Stewart still is cool and fun though his screen time should have been longer.

Only three cast members don't quite work, and they were James Marsden who's even stiffer than he was in the first(not helped by his character not been used as well as he could have been), Halle Berry who looks bored and Shawn Ashmore does look awkward at times. Other than a couple of rushed, under-explained parts, a couple of characters given short shrift and a couple of performances that didn't quite make the grade the film is a touch overlength, but the film on the whole is very good and lots of fun in its own right. It compares extremely favourably to the first film and manages to be better than it. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The group is back. Magneto is still imprisoned. This time a mutant called Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) tries to kill the president. In response, the government under the help of William Stryker (Brian Cox) institute more draconian measures to control the mutant population including attacking Professor X's school.

Alan Cumming is doing a fun character. The plot gets complicated with double dealing and cross currents but still easily followed. It's a good sophomore follow up in the franchise.

It's almost a prerequisite to have all hell break loose after the happy ending to the first movie. So the first half of the movie is to bring everything down. Once the whole lot is destroy, then they can come back to save the day. This time the bad guy is Stryker and even Magneto is there to join the fight. It's a perfectly fine follow-up.