When I was at my peak of comic book geekdom, I was spending over $50 a week on comics. This was during the early and mid 1990s, and DC Comics had the best writers while Marvel Comics (and eventually Image Comics) had the best artists. Since I actually read the comics, I was much more into DC's books. I never really got into "X-Men" because at the time, the writing sucked (as did most Marvel titles at the time), and the market was overflowing with all the "X-titles," as they were called. At one time, Marvel Comics had some great writing, but the early and mid-1990s was a lowpoint as far as quality stories. Another thing that Marvel sucked at was getting a good movie made based on their characters. Anyone see "The Punisher" from 1989, that horrendous piece of shit starring Dolph Lundgren? What about "Captain America" from 1991, which starred Matt Salinger (son of the great writer, J.D. Salinger)? And let's not forget "The Fantastic Four" from 1994, which was never even released.
Soon, things changed at Marvel Comics. They got some great writers, and the books started getting good again, just like back in the old days. That's not the only thing that changed, though. At around the same time that Marvel was getting good writers, they were getting good movies made. "Blade" was released in 1998, and though I personally didn't like it, most other people did, and it really was a quality movie. Then came "X-Men" in 2000, and that movie totally kicked ass. As for last year, 2002, you had "Blade II" which was an audience pleaser, and a little movie you may have heard of called "Spider-Man." This year, there's "Daredevil," "X2: X-Men United," and in a little over a month, "The Hulk," and that looks pretty awesome. Movies based on Marvel Comics have been really good!
So what happened to my beloved DC characters? When's the next "Superman" movie gonna come out? What about "Batman"? Well, DC's properties are in the hands of Warner Bros., and they're constantly dropping the ball. A great "Superman" movie can be made, and so can a great "Batman" movie, but WB is run by idiots who have forgotten how to make a great comic book movie. There are good scripts out there, but Jon Peters, a studio exec at Warner Bros., keeps putting speedbumps in the way because he has his own horrible ideas of how these movies should be made. WARNER BROTHERS MUST FIRE JON PETERS IF THEY EVER WANNA RELEASE A GREAT COMIC BOOK MOVIE!!!
The few comic book movies in development based on DC characters look like disasters. "Constantine" is based on "Hellblazer," a dark, twisted comic book that deals more with the supernatural than superheroes. It features a character named "John Constantine," who is British. For the movie, "John Constantine" will be American, and it looks like he's gonna be played by Keanu Reeves. Not only that, the movie will be PG-13. The "Hellblazer" comic books are clearly R-rated, and they have "suggested for mature readers" printed on each one. A PG-13 movie is unthinkable! Then there's "Catwoman," a great character, and a movie is being worked on based on her. The problem is, the character's alter ego won't be "Selina Kyle" like it's supposed to be. It's gonna be some other woman. "Selina Kyle" is always "Catwoman"! Just like "Clark Kent" is "Superman," and "Bruce Wayne" is "Batman"!
DC has great characters, but Warner Bros. is ruining the chances that they'll ever have great movies. "Constantine" and "Catwoman" would be awesome if done right, and imagine movies based on "Green Lantern," "Justice League," "Sandman," "Watchmen," "Wonder Woman," "Lobo," "Flash"... the list goes on and on. These can all be great movies, but unless WB wakes up, they'll either never get made, or they'll be as bad as the old Marvel films I used to laugh at. So while Warner Bros. is trying to figure out how to make "Superman" and "Batman," various studios are handing Marvel properties to talented filmmakers, and the results have been fantastic. "X2: X-Men United" is a perfect example of a comic book movie done right, even if the title sucks.
When the first "X-Men" was being worked on, I was unsure about the selection of Bryan Singer as director. He clearly showed talent with "The Usual Suspects" and "Apt Pupil," but could he direct a big budget action movie? As it turned out, he could. "X-Men" was a great movie, and a huge hit, too. A sequel was a no-brainer, and I'm happy to say that the sequel is even better than the first one. It's darker and more violent, so young children may be a little freaked, but "X2: X-Men United" is a very entertaining movie that is a shining example of how a comic book movie should be.
All of the big names from the original are back for the sequel; Patrick Stewart as "Professor X," Hugh Jackman as "Wolverine," Ian McKellen as "Magneto," Halle Berry as "Storm" (no more accent, thank God), Famke Janssen as "Jean Grey," James Marsden as "Cyclops," Anna Paquin as "Rogue," and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as "Mystique." The standouts are, as you might expect, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Hugh Jackman, but the entire cast does a terrific job. It's a great cast, and the acting is great all around. More is done with the "Mystique" character, and that's a good thing. Shawn Ashmore, who had a small role in the first film, returns as "Iceman" (though he's referred to as "Bobby Drake" throughout the movie), and now he's one of the main guys.
Newcomers include Alan Cumming as "Nightcrawler" (he's really good), Kelly Hu as "Lady Deathstrike" (though I don't think they call her that in the movie), and Aaron Stanford as "Pyro" ("Pyro" was in the first film, but it was very brief, and he was played by someone else). Daniel Cudmore plays "Colossus" (though he's only in the movie for about a minute), and if you look really closely, you'll see quite a few other characters in the "X-Men" universe. Some, like "Kitty Pryde," are easy to spot, but see if you can find some that are more well hidden.
Like I said earlier, this movie was directed by Bryan Singer, and the guy does an incredible job with this movie. He's an excellent director, and I hope he sticks around for the inevitable third "X-Men" movie. As for the writers, well, there are quite a few. The story was written by David Hayter (he helped write "The Scorpion King," as well as the first "X-Men"), Zak Penn (he helped write "Behind Enemy Lines," "Inspector Gadget," "PCU," and "Last Action Hero") and the director, Bryan Singer (he also helped write the first "X-Men" movie). The screenplay was written by Michael Dougherty (his feature film debut as writer, but in 1996, he wrote and directed an animated short film called "Season's Greetings") and Daniel P. Harris (he's a writer and director of short films... this is his feature film debut as writer). The script is surprisingly tight considering how many writers were involved, but they all seemed to be on the same page, so to speak. It's a really good screenplay in the hands of a great director.
I'm not gonna say anything about the ending of the movie except to say that it's a shocker. Very few will understand everything about it, but comic book geeks will know. They'll be walking outta that theater with huge smiles on their faces because they know what's coming.
"X2: X-Men United" is a typical big budget Hollywood movie that's based on a popular comic book, but it's done well. Warner Bros. needs to get their heads out of their asses and take lessons from the studios releasing Marvel Comics movies. While WB is figuring things out, we can expect more great comic book movies based on Marvel Comics characters, and I look forward to each one. I can't WAIT to see what they're gonna do for the next one!
Scale of 1-10: 9