so i watched x2 last night, a movie i had been anticipating for three years since its predecessor. but i suppose my expectations were a bit too high, as i left the theatre not feeling overly impressed with the film in its entirety. and, no, it’s not because i’m one of those people who nit-pick at movie adaptations of comic books and novels, because i believe the movie actually did a great job with that; i just felt that the second installment of the x-men movies fell a bit short in coherence.

firstly, the love triangle among jean, scott, and logan was pretty weak. the relationship of these three x-men is my favourite of all the marvel stories, so i was disappointed to see that not much had really changed. at least jean and scott get to kiss in this movie, dispelling all the implications that they were brother and sister in the first one. jean’s new hair-cut made her look young enough to be dating scott, while scott’s nifty platform shoes got him eye-level to famke janssen’s supermodel stature. unfortunately, i was not feeling any real chemistry with either of the pair-offs — jean and logan included. the two dudes crying on each other’s shoulders at the end appeared to be more of a homosexual encounter than a moment of mutual bereavement.

secondly, the plan to use professor xavier to eradicate the mutant problem worldwide was also weak. out of all the stories they could have chosen out of the action series, they choose something where cyclops is a no-show for about half of the movie and where professor xavier is pretty much useless. the entire plot kind of jumped around more than i would have liked, peppered with corny dialogue here and there that ultimately left me with a distaste for certain scenes; in contrast, the first movie’s plotline had been quite smoothly transitioned. and what the hell happened to storm’s accent? she appears to have lost it, along with the noticeable case of muteness from which she suffered in the first movie.

i don’t mean to be the naysayer in a pool of people who loved x2 better than the first. i’m not complaining — well, not too much, anyway — because i still really enjoyed the movie. it’s wonderful to just see the cartoon that i loved as a kid transformed on the big screen with real people who fit their roles exactly. the new line of mutants (i.e., iceman, pyro, colossus, and nightcrawler), the references to future x-men (i.e., remy lebeau aka “gambit”, dr. hank mccoy aka “beast”, and jubilation lee aka “jubilee”), and the fiery image of the phoenix in the water were enough to make me squeal with childish delight. however, i know i’m going to be riled in the third film, when the phoenix saga ensues and jean grey will be as annoying as evil willow in buffy’s sixth season, if they decide to unleash the dark phoenix, that is. (god, i watch way too many tv shows and movies — it can’t be healthy.)

overall, i love the concept of the x-men being one more step on the evolutionary ladder of humanity. not only is it a story of superheroes and nemeses, it is a reflection of mankind’s unwillingness to share the world, to quote a certain charles xavier. or perhaps i’m reading too much into this and all i really care about are the costumes, fight scenes, and sexual innuendoes — oh yeah!