“Have you ever tried...not being a mutant?” Mrs. Drake to her son Bobby (Iceman) “X2: X-Men United ” Like many comic book readers from the 60’s, I have waited nearly a lifetime to see some really good movies made about some of my favorite heroes. There have been many attempts over the years but most have been pretty dismal disappointments. (Does any one remember Matt Salinger or Reb Brown as Captain America… hmmmm?) In the year 2000, there was quite a buzz about 20th Century Fox’s plan to make history with the release of “X-Men.” On the day of the initial theatrical release there had to have been thousands (millions?) of Wolverine ‘fan-boys’ holding their collective breaths in anticipation of either seeing the movie, or at least hearing whether or not it was any good. The verdict? “X-Men” was not only a huge success, but its popularity spilled out of the comic shops and into mainstream audiences.

Word spread like wildfire that the movie was good, and speculation immediately began to thread its way through the Internet as to what direction the sequel would go. Would it be another ensemble effort, or would breakout star Hugh Jackman go it alone as Wolverine? In 2003, we learned the answer with the release of “X2: X-Men United. ” All of our characters were back, there was the addition of a few new ones, and the sequel ended up being even bigger and better than the first. (Which is a rare occurrence when it comes to sequels.)

The first film did a great job of setting up the characters for those who had never picked up a comic book in their lives. The casting was near perfect, the only weak link being that of James Marsden looking a little too young to play Cyclops. His youthful appearance might not have been so bad, but he had to be believable as the romantic interest of Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey and they just didn’t look right together.

On the other side of the coin, the casting of Patrick Stewart was absolutely inspired. His look and demeanor were a perfect match to the comic book version of Professor Xavier (the leader of the X-Men), so much so that I cannot imagine any other actor in the role. And who else could bring as much quiet dignity to the character of Magneto than Ian McKellan? And of course, I mentioned Hugh Jackman earlier who, due to his strong performance, now owns the role of Wolverine.

Adding to the excitement of “X2: X-Men United” is the expansion of characters that were shown briefly in the first film. Bobby Drake / Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and John Allerdyce / Pyro (Aaron Stanford) both play integral parts in the sequel. And besides just being great characters, having them in this film gives fans hope that the couple of mutant cameos this time around will mean meatier roles in “X3.”

The best addition to “X2: X-Men United” is my personal favorite mutant, Nightcrawler. I figured the difficulty of bringing a character like this to life would have kept the filmmakers from ever including him. Not that it couldn’t be done, just that it couldn’t be done right. Of course, I was wrong. Nightcrawler was not only done right, but far better than I could have ever expected. As odd as it may seem, the most important aspect of the character that was needed to make him work for fans was a sound. You see, Nightcrawler can teleport, and in the comics the sound of teleportation was written as ‘BAMF.’ The sound you hear in the film is a perfect representation of that sound.

Beyond that, you needed the right actor to play the part. When I first heard that Alan Cummings was up for the role, I was very skeptical. Cummings is a really good actor, but I couldn’t imagine him as a hero. I was worried it would be like seeing Paul Reubens as The Spleen in “Mystery Men.” Again, I was wrong. Cummings was not only perfect, but he also brought a subtle humanity to the role. Considering the fact that Nightcrawler is a blue-skinned, pointy-eared mutant with sharp teeth and a tail, this is quite an accomplishment.

“X2: X-Men United” takes up shortly after the end of the first movie and delivers a more complex storyline. Heroes and villains are forced to unite against a threat to everyone on earth, human and mutant. I don’t want to get too much into the plot of the film, because almost anything I tell you is a potential spoiler. All I will say is that it is an excellent movie that far surpassed my hopes of what it could be.

Twentieth Century Fox’s DVD release of “X2: X-Men United” is everything that the initial DVD release of the first movie should have been. For those of you who may not remember, the first release had quite a few extras but not as many as fans wanted to see. When director Bryan Singer squelched the rumors of a second ‘Special Edition’ DVD, fans went ahead and grabbed what was available. Of course, as we should have predicted, there WAS a ‘Special Edition’ released a few months ago aptly titled “X-Men 1.5” which offered up a ton of new extra features.

With the DVD of “X2: X-Men United” I think we see everything there is to see and them some. As you might expect, there is a commentary… well actually two commentaries. The first, by director Bryan Singer and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, is quite fascinating. The amount of information you get from these two guys could fill a textbook on filmmaking. There are some slow spots, but for the most part they seem to be having a good time talking about the film and that carries over to the listener. The second commentary is by a gaggle of writers and producers including Lauren Schuler-Donner, Ralph Winter, Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter. It’s almost as good, but with so many different people talking, it kind if overloads the senses.

I honestly don’t even know where to begin with the 2nd disc. I was most interested in the featurettes that focused on Nightcrawler, and there were quite a few. There is a time-lapse look at Cummings’ makeup process, and a great scene dissection of the film’s opening White House Attack. (Which by the way, is the scene that completely sold me on the rest of the movie) Seeing how they put this scene together is nothing short of amazing.

There is an awesome documentary on the making of “X2: X-Men United” that runs almost an hour, as well as a look at the rehearsal process that Jackman and Kelly Hu went through for the climactic Wolverine / Lady Deathstrike fight. And the list goes on and on. I think every aspect of the production from the music and costuming to a good portion of the effects shots are looked at in the myriad of featurettes. You’ll need to set aside a looong evening to watch everything. And unlike a lot of features you might see on other DVDs, there is very little in the way of promotional fluff.

“X2: X-Men United” turned out to be not only a great sequel to a good superhero movie, but also just an overall great movie. Fox has turned out a DVD that gets excellent marks in every category. The video is crystal clear and the sound delivers the subtly of a cat’s ‘meow’ with the same clarity as en exploding police car (though thankfully, not at the same time…). This is a DVD that easily belongs in every collection.

Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Rebecca Romjin-Stamos, Anna Paquin, Alan Cumming, Brian Cox, Kelly Hu, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford
Extras: Commentary by Director Bryan Singer and Tom Sigel, Commentary by Lauren Schuler-Donner, Ralph Winter, Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter. “The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men” Ultimate Making of Documentary, 11 Featurettes: The Secret Origin of X-Men, Nightcrawler Reborn, Evolution in Details, United Colors of X2, Wolverine Deathstrike Fight Rehearsal, Introducing the Incredible Nightcrawler, Nightcrawler Stunt Rehearsal, Nightcrawler Time Lapse, FX2 – The Spectacular Visual Effects Guide, Requiem for Mutants – The Score of X. Interactive Multi-Angle Scene Study – Nightcrawler Attack, X2 Global Webcast Highlights, 11 Deleted/Extended Scenes, 26 Still Galleries, Theatrical Trailers
Specifications: Widescreen (2.35:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, DTS 5.1 Surround Sound, French and Spanish Dolby Surround
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 11/25/2003
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (For Sci-Fi Action / Violence, Some Sexuality and Brief Language)
Website

We'll give X-2: X-Men United an A+.