Marvel May - X2: X-Men United (2003)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and it's time, once again, for Marvel May. Unfortunately, there's not much for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to talk about this month, so this year, I'm taking a look at three Marvel movie franchises that haven't yet gotten the Marvel May treatment: X-Men, Blade, and Ghost Rider. Now, I have talked about some of the X-Men movies, such as the original X-Men and both Deadpool movies. Now, I feel it's time to finish out the X-Men movies, starting with 2003's X2. 

          Directed once again by Bryan Singer, X2 opens in the White House, where the President and his Secret Service agents are attacked by a teleporting mutant with blue skin. The mutant nearly kills the President, but gets away after being shot in the shoulder. In Canada, we see Logan/Wolverine investigating the dam at Alkali Lake, only to find ruins of a base there. We then see Storm, Scott Summers/Cyclops, and Jean Grey looking after several mutant children at a public museum, where Jean begins having problems with her powers, sensing something bad is coming. Meanwhile, we see Rogue, along with Bobby Drake/Iceman and John Allerdyce/Pyro, in food court where John is making an ass of himself and showing off his mutant power of fire manipulation. Professor Xavier arrives, having frozen every non-mutant in time, and tells John "The next time you feel like showing off, don't." After seeing a news report of a mutant attack in the White House, the professor, Jean, Scott, Storm, and the children all leave, returning to the mansion in West Chester, New York. 

          In the White House, the President meets with both Senator Robert Kelly and Col. William Stryker, who shows satellite photos of the Xavier Mansion, and reveals that he has access to Erik Lensherr/Magneto, as it was Stryker's company that built Erik's plastic prison. Also, if viewers were paying attention to the ending of the first X-Men, then they're already aware that Senator Kelly is, actually, Mystique in disguise. Mystique, using the guise of both Senator Kelly and Stryker's assistant, Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike, gets info on several projects Stryker is working on, as well as files on mutants and Cerebro, the latter of which Stryker pays Magneto a visit to talk about. 

         Back at the mansion, Logan reunites with Rogue, Storm, Scott, and Jean, meets Bobby, and meets with the Professor inside of Cerebro, which he uses to track the mutant who attacked the President to an abandoned church in Boston, sending Storm and Jean there, whilst the Professor and Scott go to see Magneto. And it's here where we learn of a past connection the Professor and Stryker once had. Apparently, Stryker's son, Jason, once was a student at Xavier's school, but the Professor couldn't help Jason the way his father had intended. The cell is gassed, Scott is tranquilized, and both he and the Professor are taken by Lady Deathstrike. 

         Back at the Mansion, Logan walks around in the middle of the night, and men with guns attack, capturing a few of the children, while others make their escape with help from Peter Rasputin/Colossus. Logan, after a brief reunion with Stryker, makes his escape with help from Rogue, Bobby, and Pyro. The four get away in Scott's car, and make their way to Bobby's family home in Boston. Stryker, meanwhile, gains access to Cerebro to gather equipment he needs. In Boston, Storm and Jean confront the mutant who attacked the President, learning he's a teleporting mutant named Kurt Wagner. Kurt, who was raised in the Munich Circus and was dubbed "the incredible Nightcrawler," reveals that he wasn't in control of his actions when the attack occurred. After being contacted by Logan, Storm, Jean, and Kurt head to the Drake household to pick up Logan, Rogue, Bobby, and Pyro. 

      Mystique, meanwhile, meets one of Magneto's guards in a bar, drugs him, and injects he m with liquified metal, which Magneto then draws from the guard's blood, killing him, and using it to escape. Back at the Drake household, Bobby reveals to his parents and younger brother that he's a mutant, and his younger brother calls the police. While Logan takes a shot to the head, Pyro blows up the squad cars, and Rogue saps his power to put the fire out. The X-Jet arrives, and Logan, Bobby, Rogue, and Pyro board it. After a chase with some government jets, a missile hits the jet, flinging Rogue through a hole, only for her to be saved by Kurt. The jet is stopped from crashing by Magneto, who looks to Mystique and remarks "When will these people learn how to fly?" 

        Around a campfire that evening, it's revealed that Stryker seeks to use a new version of Cerebro, dubbed Dark Cerebro, as well as the Professor, to wipe out every living mutant on the planet. Using Kurt's memories, Jean learns that the Alkali Lake base, which was the same one where Logan had Adamantium grafted onto his skeleton, is located underground, and it's where Stryker is operating. So, the X-Men, along with Magneto and Mystique, head there to rescue the Professor, Scott, and the abducted children. Unfortunately, Stryker, who has a serum that can place mutants under his control, decides to use the serum's source to control the Professor: Mutant 143/Jason Stryker/Mastermind. 

         Jason mentally projects a lost, frightened, girl into the Professor's mind, convincing him to use Dark Cerebro to find mutants missing from a mental recreation of the mansion. Mystique takes the guise of Logan to break into the base, accessing Stryker's computer to let everyone in. Magneto and Mystique go after Dark Cerebro, Storm and Kurt go after the children, and Logan goes looking for answers to the Adamantium. So, let's start there: Stryker had worked with Logan in the past, and then Logan volunteered for the procedure for the Adamantium. Lady Deathstrike, whose mutation is similar to Logan, also underwent the procedure and has Adamantium as well. Logan kills her after a lengthy fight. Okay, now with Jean. While she travels with Magneto and Mystique, Jean spots Scott and fends him off, snapping him back to his senses, but also affecting the pressure of the dam, causing it to start falling apart. Upon arriving at Dark Cerebro, which Stryker already had Jason influence the Professor to find and kill all mutants worldwide, Magneto shuts it down (remember, his helmet blocks out any telepathic entry, even with Cerebro), goes inside and rearranges the panels, and Mystique takes the guise of Stryker to tell Jason to change Dark Cerebro's targets from mutants to non-mutants. Kurt and Storm, after rescuing the children, then teleport into Dark Cerebro, where Storm whips up a cold front to break through to the Professor, breaking Jason's hold on him. 

        Outside, Pyro leaves the X-Jet and meets with Magneto and Mystique, joining them in their escape with Stryker's helicopter. Rogue lands the Jet where Logan, Storm, and the others have made it to, but the Jet lands so hard it can't take off. Logan then has one last word with Stryker before leaving him to die from the mass of water about to break through the dam. Jean, sacrificing herself, uses her powers to lift the Jet and hold back the mass of water. Once the Jet is safe, Jean allows the water to consume her, seemingly killing her. 

       Back at the White House, the President prepares to give a speech to the public, but time has been stopped by the Professor, who is in the Oval Office along with Bobby, Rogue, Storm, Scott, Logan, and Kurt. Calming the President, as they have no intention of harming anyone, the Professor offers up some of Stryker's files to the President, remarking how he knows "a little girl who can walk through walls." Also, the Professor reveals that some people, both mutant and non-mutant, who believe a war is coming, and Stryker, among others, made attempts to start one. The Professor then offers the President the opportunity to try and strive for a better future, where mutants and non-mutants can live in harmony. Logan remarks "We'll be watching," and the X-Men vanish. 

      At the mansion, Scott, Logan, and the Professor have a moment of remembrance for Jean, and the Professor goes on teaching a class. We then cut back to Alkali Lake, where Jean gives a monologue about mutation, and we see a phoenix reflected in the water, ending the movie. 

       Back in 2003, X2 was seen not just as the best film of the X-Men franchise, but the best Marvel Comics movie ever made. Obviously, time and other Marvel movies have changed that, but longtime X-Men fans like myself still celebrate this movie for the triumph it was twenty years ago. Jeez, has it been that long already? Yikes, I'm old. 

       Anyway, the performances of the returning cast members like Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, and Rebecca Romijn were all fantastic. Another returning cast member, Shawn Ashmore, gets a much bigger role in this movie, and is fantastic. As for the main newcomers, Brian Cox is a very different kind of villain as William Stryker, whilst Kelly Hu is definitely great as Lady Deathstrike. Her fight scene with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is awesome. Lastly, there's Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, who is absolutely the most enjoyable newcomer in this movie. Aaron Stanford does a good job as Pyro, but he doesn't really stand out much in this movie, feeling more like an angst-ridden teen looking to be who he wants to be. 

       The action is fantastic, the visual effects amazing, and the music score by John Ottman is definitely iconic, giving a franchise defining theme unseen since the '90s X-Men cartoon. Overall, Bryan Singer made a sequel that surpasses the first film in every way. So, I'm giving X2 a rating of 5/5. 

       Well guys, this is Chuck signing off, and Marvel May is just getting started. Join me tomorrow for one of the worst X-Men movies of all time: X-Men: The Last Stand.