Once upon a time, X2: X-Men United sat atop the pile as the exemplar of the superhero genre. I’m here to tell you that it earned the seat at the top. Even now, over 15 years later, this is still a very good superhero movie.

Narrative Escalation

The plot of this film is much more intricate than the plot of X-Men. In the last film, the story focused on two opposing groups of mutants, brought into conflict under the pressure of a society that did not accept them. This film has a large number of separate groups of characters on which scenes focus. The X-Men are divided into as many as three or four groups at certain points, with Mystique doing her thing, Magneto in prison, and the new governmental baddies on the warpath. Yet even with more going on, the film never loses control of the narrative.

This time around, the government threatens actively instead of passively. William Stryker represents the worst type of bigoted war-hawks to be found in the halls of power. He’s determined to commit genocide. His hatred is the impetus of the entire film, but also reaches back into the last of at least one of our major characters.

The Mutant Metaphor Revisited

The mutants-as-queer folks metaphor is back in full force in this one. Most of the dynamics from the first film are still in play. There’s an actual coming out scene where Bobby Drake tells his parents he’s a mutant. His mother literally asks if he’s tried not being a mutant. I’d say it wasn’t subtle, but a glance back at internet message boards circa 2003 informed me that it was subtle enough that huge portions of the population didn’t get it.

The mutant metaphor also gets expanded in this film. There a lot more scenes that invoke the types of persecution more frequently suffered by racial and religious minorities. In a direct follow-up to the coming out scene, we see Bobby’s brother calling the police on his brother (and his brother’s friends) in a fit of anger. Wolverine gets shot in the head for failing to comply with an impossible demand, despite slowly and calmly trying to explain himself. It’s a scene that’s become much more recognizable for what it is in a post-Black Lives Matter world.

On top of that, there’s a very post-911 Islamophobic bent to William Stryker’s rhetoric. When he starts discussing the war against mutants and how it has already arrived, it’s not difficult to insert the word Muslim for mutant and hear it in the voices of American politicians and generals.

Thematic Implementation in X2: X-Men United

We actually get a fair amount of exploration regarding the idea that the state can be weaponized against minorities, because this film also adds a new wrinkle to the generalized mutant metaphor. In this film, the US military-industrial complex gets involved, and they aren’t fans of mutant equality. The idea of xenophobic conspiracies in the intelligence community is hardly a new or surprising take, but it’s an effective expansion on the previous film’s themes.

This new element is also explored viscerally. The brutality of the assault on the school tells a viewer everything they need to know about the level of persecution mutants risk in this world. Stryker’s soldiers primarily use tranquilizers, but we see in a couple scenes that they were sent in with real firearms as well. To be clear, Stryker explicitly did not know that Wolverine was on site when he made that tactical decision. He sent his armed men against a bunch of schoolchildren.

There’s an interesting moment where the US President makes a point to tell William Stryker to not use lethal force. His concern isn’t mutant civil rights, as he’s perfectly content to allow Stryker’s blatantly unconstitutional actions. Rather, he worries about the prospect of bad publicity. He’s less concerned with being fair mutant population than he is the optics of being overly unfair. That’s a governmental attitude that I’m sure many of the real-world disenfranchised are quite familiar with.

Technical Progress

The opening to this film is much less meditative than the opening to the first. We’re dropped almost immediately into an action sequence. Surprisingly, this opening scene with Nightcrawler has held up astoundingly well. The decision to only use CGI for his tail and smoke effects was a wise one, as they are simple enough effects to be done well, even in the early 2000s. That’s a running theme in the film; a lot of practical effects get used with minimal CGI, and even that is very limited and smartly constrained. The ultimate result ages the film surprisingly gracefully.

There are several respectable action sequences in the film. The opening attack in the Oval Office starts off the film on strong footing. Other highlights include the aforementioned assault on the X-Mansion, Wolverine’s fight against Lady Deathstrike, and Magneto’s prison escape.

I know it’s gotten some flack in recent years due to the rise of more comic-accurate suits in superhero fare, but I unironically love the X-Men costume design. The leather look is so good and spiritually harkens back to the original matching suits from the ‘60s.

The score is also good, but not great. I don’t love it as much as the score to the first film, but it’s still very functional.

Excellence in Performative Arts

Most of the returning actors from the previous film bring solid performances. Full disclosure: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Hugh Jackman are still great. They’re going to still be a great. I’m not going to waste a paragraph or three detailing them being great in every one of these. Most of the other returning major cast are fine too. We don’t have to delve into it too deeply, because you should already know what to expect.

One of the most common complaints about this franchise is that Halle Berry is a detriment to the franchise. I’m sorry, it’s just not true. Halle Berry gives a perfectly respectable performance across the board, and in fact has one of my favorite scenes in the film. Her debate with newcomer Nightcrawler over the benefits of anger versus forgiveness is fantastic. Nightcrawler himself also makes a solid addition to the cast. Alan Cumming brings equal measures humanity and superheroics even through a layer of heavy makeup.

The Phoenix

Let’s talk about Jean Grey for a moment. Jean appears to be the only major casualty of the film. Now, based on my past takes on this genre’s penchant for abusing female characters, you might expect me to take issue with this narrative choice. But this is much, much different than those other circumstances. She’s sacrificing herself, not being killed. There’s also no guilt or trauma telling Jean to undervalue her own life. In fact, her choice to save her friends is an acceptance of her own power. She’s making a choice, freely and of her own will, to save her friends when only she can.

What’s more, this isn’t actually the end of her story. The final shot of the film reveals a Phoenix under the lake Jean was lost under. Anybody with even cursory knowledge of Jean Grey knows what that means. It’s a clear sign that the intention was always to tell more of her story. Despite the serious missteps of the film that told the next chapter in her story, this film and creative team are not to blame.

Final Thoughts on X2: X-Men United

As a final note: everything you need to know about Wolverine’s past can be found in this film. Origins offers nothing of value in that respect. I hate to be like that, but it’s true.

X2: X-Men United holds up incredibly well. Much better than I anticipated. It looks so much better than I expected. The script is excellent. All the performances are good to great. Ranking it at the top of the still nascent X-Men Rankings is one of the easiest calls I’ve made.

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