so, needless to say, i am part of the target audience of X-Men films.
and this target audience is entirely pleased with X-Men 2.
it takes the natural leap to a bigger scale with the second film, making it more of an ensemble cast, rather than focusing on wolverine and rogue. which is good, because they've kept the characters interesting for the film, though for anyone who's familiar with the comic, you'll be able to predict the end a mile away, and you will be left thinking i know what the third film will be.
it's not a film for kids, by the way. it's darker and more violent than the first, which suits me perfectly, but i can't imagine a bunch of eight year olds enjoying some of the graphic scenes. (maybe they will. i don't know much about eight year olds.) it's got the same sense of style to the first film, so if you liked that, i imagine you'll like this, though the plot is somewhat more plausible and interesting than that of the first film. this might be because it's lifted from God Loves, Man Kills but i haven't read that graphic novel, so someone else will have to yay or nay it.
hugh jackman remains the fun, stylish wolverine who is great to watch, and famke janssen as jean grey is actually more interesting than i thought possible for that character, while alan cumming as nightcrawler is excellent, and halle berry gets a larger role than i thought. anna paquin, however, is fine, but under used.
but for me, it is ian mckellen and rebecca stamos-rojin(?) as magneto and mystique that are the true life of the film this time 'round.
