X-Men 2
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États-Unis, 2003
De Bryan Singer
Scénario : Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, David Hayter
Avec : Halle Berry, Alan Cumming, Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart
Durée : 2h15
Sortie : 01/01/2003
The good and evil mutants must unite to face the threat of General Stryker, an anti-mutant activist who's convinced the President to attack Xavier's students
When Stan Lee created X-Men, it became a part of a new breed of comic books with more credible characters. Lee basically wanted superheroes with problems. To Peter Parker, he gave teenager issues ; to Bruce Banner, he gave an incapacity to control himself. X-Men was born in a much more troubled era and was immediately anchored in a political and social reality. The writers kept making parallels with real life figure like Senator McCarthy (and his battle against communists) or Malcolm X and Martin Luther King (and their struggle for the African-American cause) through the many protagonists of the comic book (Senator Kelly, the Magneto/Professor X duel…). From that point of view, the title is the precursor of monuments like The Watchmen (by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons), a graphic novel which delt with the image of the vigilante in a realistic way, and which was a source of inspiration for M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable, where we get to see the birth of a superhero in our world. Bryan Singer chooses the same path. It's that realistic aspect that first attracted him towards the adaptation of X-Men, and it’s that aspect that confers such a human dimension to this universe.
The very first thing that jumps up to our minds is how Singer drew lessons from his mistakes and, with the help of a much bigger budget, managed to settle all the problems that appeared in the first movie. Back then, the lack of huge action scenes from the comic book was criticized, though the character development was very well achieved. Once again, the director presents his protagonists in very clever ways, in only one or two scenes, without much needing to be said. We are quickly introduced to the new characters, as well as we see the other ones get deeper and more complex. Jean Grey gets a lot of attention and get to have the most moving scenes; Cyclops, on the other hand, suffers from this and is almost entirely absent from the picture. Although some tracks lead us to believe he'll get a special treatment in the next chapter…
Concerning the other main complaint regarding the first movie, this sequel completely fills that void. The first scenes contain as much pure energy as the introduction of the first film contained wrenching emotion. The attack on Xavier's school will also remain one of the high points of the flick. But it doesn’t stop there. Numerous other moments keep the pace of the events up. Three years ago, we saw what seemed to be the first adventure of the X-Men. This time, we witness their mythology pursuing its course. Before our eyes, ready to shed some tears, we watch these heroic combats. Bryan Singer did it.
Is there more to say? The sheer joy that this movie provides makes you happy to love movies. You feel blessed. And you want to thank Bryan Singer, or some God of the Arts, for bringing this film, these characters to life. You fall back into a state close to childhood, when every new picture you saw was the best there is. You spend 135 minutes smiling. Just smiling.
