Kaboom

Wendell and I went and saw X-Men 2 on Sunday. I think "kaboom" sums up the movie best. It went "kaboom" quite a bit. The story was loose even for a comic book. Once again Roger Ebert has the ability to sum the movie up better than I can, "I tried to experience the film entirely in the present, and the fact is, i had a good time. Dumb, but good."

To me the best scene of the movie was the opening scene where the newly introduced character Nightcrawler breaks into the oval office in an attempt to assassinate the president with a knife. It had a lot of tension and action and was a sequence that Spielberg would have been proud of.

As with the first movie the focus, whether intended or not, seems to be on Wolverine, one of the greatest comic book characters ever. Like Ian McKlellen as Gandalf in the Lord of Rings, the X-Men franchise would not have the energy it does without Hugh Jackman playing the role of Wolverine. In fact if he steps down I will lose most of my interest in any future X-Men movie. There is a scene where government agents invade the headquarters of the X-Men in an attempt to shut it down. SOP for the government in movies and real life nowadays. During the battle I believe Wolverine kills over twenty people. I assume he killed them, it's not shown plainly whether or not the thugs he sticks with his admantium claws are dead or not but you gotta think most of them met their maker that night. I was a little surprised the film makes allowed such a high body count but it does follow the rage and combat training that make up the character of Wolverine.

I was also pleased to see Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in her role as Mystique given a larger role in this film. She has an allure and brattines about her that has nothing to do with her stunning body and her near-nakednes. The smugness she portrays on the jet as she relates to Magneto her attempted seduction of Wolverine the previous night is palpable.

Movie Guy was in the theatre that evening also and he was bitterly disappointed by the movie. Maybe he went in expecting a story. With the high expectations of an actual plot you couldn't help but be disappointed, I reckon. Luckily my hope were not that high so I able to enjoy the explosions and fights.