X2: X-Men United (2003)

Director: Bryan Singer

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Alan Cummings, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 133 Minutes

After revisiting the entire X-Men franchise within the last month, I can honestly say that X2: X-Men United is the best film in the series. The film is both a fantastic continuation of the original's themes and characters as well as an excellent expansion of the mythology established in the first film. Whereas the first film depicted the battle between mutants good and bad, the sequel pits all of the mutants against a greater enemy. 

Therefore, the mutants must literally combat racist forces in order to survive X2, a film that gives all of the hatred and racism from X-Men a physical form; case in point: William Stryker. It seems that the X-Men series is at its best when all of the mutants have to work together against a greater enemy, just as in X-Men: Days of Future Past. X2: X-Men United has everything that one expects from a sequel: greater stakes, bigger action set pieces, and deeper themes. The film is very similar to The Empire Strikes Back, consistently regarded as one of the greatest sequels of all time, in that it is the darkest and lengthiest of its trilogy too.

Alan Cummings, of all people, kicks ass as Nightcrawler.

X2 takes place three years after the events of X1. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) has been off searching for his origin, Magneto (Ian McKellen) has been rotting in a plastic prison, and Xavier (Patrick Stewart) has been working hard at helping mutants hone their skills at his school for the gifted. Unfortunately, danger lurks on the horizon when a teleporting mutant nearly kills the President of the United States. What follows is a mass hysteria of anti-mutant sentiments across the country. In steps William Stryker (Brian Cox), a man with the ability to control mutants and military backing. When Stryker alerts the White House to the location of Xavier's school for the gifted, the X-Men and their fellow mutants find themselves under attack. It's a scramble for safety and survival as all mutants good and bad unite with one another to stop Stryker's attack on mutant kind.

X2's opening action set piece signals to the viewer that the film is on a whole other playing field in contrast to its solid but flawed predecessor. Nightcrawler's raid on the White House is infinitely more exciting than every single action scene from X-Men put together. In fact, the film is filled with several memorable action beats. Besides Nightcrawler's unforgettable entrance, X2 also contains a thrilling military raid on Xavier's mansion, Magneto's chilling prison escape, and Wolverine's bloody fight to the death with Lady Deathstrike. Each and every set piece is as dramatic, compelling, and exciting as one would expect from a sequel of this magnitude. While X2 is already a mature and gripping meditation on racism, hatred, and team work, the film's fantastic action sequences drive it into the upper echelon of superhero entertainment.

Singer's greatest achievement within the X-Men franchise is his masterful handling of character. After all, what is a good superhero film without fantastic characters? Wolverine steals the show once again as the bad ass hero and truly comes front and center this go around of the franchise. A major portion of the sequel is devoted to uncovering Wolverine's origin and past. Fortunately, Wolverine's origin is made all the more interesting thanks to main villain William Stryker, Wolverine's creator. Brian Cox gives an incredible performance as the physical representation of humanity's hatred of mutants. Cox's Stryker is made all the better because of his relationship with Wolverine. The two go together like Doctor Frankenstein and The Monster, one a cruel and maniacal creator and the other a confused yet sympathetic beast. Stryker is an exceptionally complex villain because he hates mutants but chooses to control them at the same time to achieve his goals.

Wolverine digs deeper for his origin.

Fortunately, Stryker and Wolverine are joined by an equally excellent supporting cast of new and old favorites. Almost every character gets a chance to shine this time around, including Iceman and Pyro who are granted far more screen time than they were in X-Men. The most notable addition to Xavier's X-Men is Nightcrawler, a teleporting mutant played to perfection by Alan Cummings of all actors. Nightcrawler, a fan favorite from the comics, is given several scenes to shine and more or less steals the show whenever Wolverine is not around.

Magneto is once again a standout. After all, he is one of the greatest comic book villains of all time. Magneto's journey in the film is exceptionally interesting. He starts off as a helpless prisoner who is taken advantage of by Stryker, a man with more power than Magneto at the time of their meeting. However, Magneto eventually gains the upper hand on his captors and escapes from prison with the help of his trusty mutant side kick, Mystique. After escaping from jail in an unforgettable fashion, Magneto puts his differences with the X-Men aside and joins them in an effort to defeat Stryker. I love whenever a film forces its villains and heroes together in order to stop a greater threat. Magneto eventually succeeds in defeating Stryker, only to turn Stryker's plan against himself and the rest of the world's humans. This switcheroo of Professor X and Jason Stryker's mind attack on the mutants of the world is an excellent example of Magneto's villainy. Few villains surprise and meet your expectations time and time again as much as McKellen's Magneto does.

One of my largest praises for X-Men was how Singer set up this eventual sequel. X1 ends on several exciting notes that make resisting to watch X2 after it nearly impossible. Singer gives the audience exactly what they want and delivers upon everything teased at by the end of X-Men. However, Singer one-ups himself and sets up even more ideas for the eventual third film (which he unfortunately did not show up for). He once again teases the eventual war of the mutants. Singer also sets up Pyro's turn to the dark side and his rivalry with Bobby. The most unforgettable tease of X2 is its final shot in which a bird-like shape can be seen swimming in the waters that encased Jean. This image of a bird was meant as an easter egg for fans of the comics, as Singer had wanted to explore the Dark Phoenix Saga within his third X-Men film. Unfortunately, Singer did not show up for the third film and both the war of the mutants and the Phoenix Saga were butchered and not seen through properly. Still, Singer did a fantastic job creating a great film that laid the groundwork for what could have been an excellent third film.

McKellen gives a "magnifying" performance as everyone's favorite villain.

X2: X-Men United is a fantastic superhero film filled with exciting action sequences, interesting characters, and gripping themes. Singer crafts a group of set pieces that one up every piece of action from his previous X-Men film in every way possible. Wolverine's massacre of Stryker's soldiers within the mansion is worth the price of admission alone. The film is also filled with several new characters, such as Stryker and Nightcrawler, who help add even more heroism and villainy to the proceedings. However, it is X2's intelligent themes that wrap the entire film in a bow of thought provoking greatness. X2 will jog your brain and make you question your fear of the unknown, as well as any racism or hatred you have towards others.

Bryan Singer can go to his death bed knowing that he crafted not only one of the best sequels of all time, but also one of the defining pieces of superhero cinema. Unfortunately, only disaster followed X2, as Fox would go on to produce two of the most hated and derived pieces of superhero cinema to date. If it were not for X-Men and X2's critical and commercial success, I don't think that Fox would have brought the X franchise back on track the way they have with First Class and Days of Future Past. Therefore, fans should view X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine as speed bumps in an otherwise excellent franchise.

Rating: 10/10 - A masterpiece of superhero cinema that solidified the X-Men franchise as one of Hollywood's premiere superhero franchises.

Franchise:
X-Men (dir. Bryan Singer, 2000)
X2: X-Men United (dir. Bryan Singer, 2003)
X-Men: The Last Stand (dir. Brett Ratner, 2006)
X-Men: First Class (dir. Matthew Vaughn, 2011)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (dir. Bryan Singer, 2014)
X-Men: Age of Apocalypse (dir. Bryan Singer, 2016)

'Wolverine' Spin-Offs:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (dir. Gavin Hood, 2009)
The Wolverine (dir. James Mangold, 2013)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Director: Gavin Hood

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schriber, Ryan Reynolds, Danny Huston, Scott Adkins, Will.i.am

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 107 minutes

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is technically the fourth film in the X-Men film series. However, the film is both a prequel to the first three films and a standalone Wolverine adventure. Therefore, one could technically separate this more action oriented prequel (as well as James Mangold's The Wolverine) from the rest of the series even though they play off of the continuity established in the bigger X-Men films. The X-Men series has kind of been all over the place in terms of quality and time lines anyways.

It's shocking to consider that X-Men Origins is only 5 years old, but it is. I am still shocked at how awful the special effects are for a blockbuster from 2009 (the same year that birthed "classics" like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra). It is very apparent to the movie going community that X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins are not only the two most hated and derived entries in the X-Men franchise, but also two of the most hated superhero films of all time. And while I agree that these are the two weakest entries in the franchise, I think X-Men Origins is easily the worst. However, I still find myself able to enjoy Origins more than most others. In fact, I can say that I have a bit of a soft spot for this film. Yeah yeah, sue me.

I agree with everyone that this film is a total mess. The special effects are laughably bad, the storytelling is horribly rushed, and the character work is near insulting. However, I enjoy X-Men Origins for the fact that it is more action oriented than any of the other X-Men films. The action scenes in the film resemble what one would find in an 80s or 90s blockbuster, not a contemporary superhero picture. The constant motion of the film and its ever abundant action keeps me engaged, not its content (which is really sort of a backhanded compliment). X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the ultimate turn off your brain film if there ever was one.

Brothers until the end!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine makes a mistake literally in the first frame by opening with a title card that reads: Canada, 1845. For those who do not know, Canada was not founded until July 1, 1867. So the dang movie can't even get that right! Looks like screenwriters David Benioff and Skip Woods didn't do their research. 

James (Hugh Jackman) and Victor (Liev Schriber) are mutant half-brothers who have been alive for a long time. The two both have healing powers that allow them to grow old without physically aging. James also has bone claws that come out of his knuckles while Victor has razor sharp fingernails. After fighting numerous wars together, the two join Team X, a group of mutant mercenaries who do missions for Major William Stryker (Danny Huston). James leaves the team in the 1960s after refusing to kill more innocent people for Stryker. James eventually settles down as a lumberjack in Canada with his new girlfriend Kayla and assumes the alias of Logan.

Unfortuantely, Logan finds Kayla dead at the hands of Victor in the woods one day. Stryker tells him that Victor is going around killing off old members of Team X. Therefore, Logan and Stryker meet up to weaponize Logan in order to give him the upper hand over his eventual face off against his murderous brother. When Stryker tries to betray Logan, he escapes with his new found metallic bones and sets out to kill his brother and Stryker.

The gang's all here.

Phew! It takes a lot of explaining in order to set up the basic premise of this film. Origins has to be one of the quickest moving superhero films ever made at one hour and forty seven minutes. There is rarely a slow moment or a second to breathe. This a film that constantly bombards you with plot twists and action scenes from start to finish. Even though this kind of speedy storytelling is a detriment to immersing the audience into a film's characters, Origins plays best as a turn off your brain kind of action film. This is an extremely stupid film filled with plot holes galore, god awful special effects, and lousy humor that fails to conjure a chuckle. However, Origins is constantly in motion and never boring. Therefore, all of the film's silliness and absurdities add up to a hammy but entertaining superhero film that has no business being in the same franchise as intelligent and thought provoking films like X2: X-Men United and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Just like Victor is a half brother to Logan, I view X-Men Origins: Wolverine as a half brother to the X-Men franchise. I know I am ashamed of this film, but I still find a way to embrace it for its silliness and entertainment value.

The biggest issue with Origins is that it doesn't know if it wants to be a mutant heavy X-Men film or a solo Wolverine origin story. The film's narrative is structured around explaining Logan/Wolverine's origin. We discover where he came from, how he got his metallic bones, and what happened between him and his brother long ago. However, we also have to put up with countless supporting mutant characters who are cheated out of proper screen time and unnecessary scenes that serve no purpose but to set up the previous X-Men films. Origins would have worked better if many of these supporting mutant characters were excised from the film completely or given better screen treatment. Classic X-Men characters like Gambit, The Blob, and Deadpool are nearly unrecognizable from their comic book counterparts. The film's producers and screenwriters didn't seem confident in making an X-Men Origins film without packing in as many supporting mutants as possible in order to remind the audience that this film is connected to the X-Men franchise. These numerous supporting players take the focus off of Wolverine's origin story and hurt the film that much more.

As I stated before, Origins is an action packed film. The other X-Men films are smart character driven films fueled by themes of time travel, racism, self-identity, and team work. They are intelligent films that prove that the superhero sub-genre is more than just action and special effects. It's a franchise of ingenious storytelling paired with occasional action and memorable characters. Origins on the other hand is nothing like this. The story is never engaging, interesting, or even smart. This is a film that specializes in dumb and mind numbing set pieces that please the senses. Beyond that, Origins has little to no worth to it.

"Is it too late to back out...of this film I mean?"

And I know what you are thinking, "Zach, how can you give this film a pass but hate on other dumb popcorn films like the Transformers series?" Well, I think it is because Origins doesn't offend me in anyway. Michael Bay's Transformers films excel when the special effects arrive. However, they fall apart when you get to the annoying characters, offensive racist stereotypes, excessively long action scenes, and two and a half hour run time. Origins is a short and innocent little popcorn film that does nothing more than deliver numerous action scenes. Transformers on the other hand is a gauntlet of noise and excessiveness. If Origins ran for more than two and a half hours like Transformers, than I might have thrown in the towel. However, an hour and forty seven minutes is the perfect run time for a film as dumb and stupid as Origins is.

The choreography and concepts for many of the film's action scenes are quite good. Highlights include Team X infiltrating a high rise filled with gun wielding henchmen, Wolverine fighting his brother several times, and the helicopter vs chopper chase through the woods of Canada. I enjoy these concepts because fist fights, shootouts, and helicopter chases are the kind of set pieces that dominated the blockbusters of the 80s and 90s. Therefore, I enjoy Origins for basing its action scenes around good old fashioned action. As an action-ologist, I took note of a scene early in the film where Wolverine expresses his disgust with Team X for killing innocent people for information. This scene is heavily reminiscent of the opening Vietnam scene in Above the Law where Seagal's character, Gino, questions the CIA's violent methods in enacting information. Both Gino and Wolverine state that torture is not what they signed up for. I'm know the connection is a stretch, but the time lines of the stories and the contents of the scenes line up quite well.

Unfortunately, all of the film's action scenes contain heavy amounts of god awful computer graphics. The special effects in this film are so bad, that they easily rank among the worst effects to ever be featured in a big blockbuster. I laughed out loud several times in the film when Wolverine busted out his cartoonish claws. The scene in which Wolverine inspects his claws for the first time in a bathroom is painful to watch. The over abundance of green screens during the action scenes doesn't help either. Practical effects and better stunt work would have made these action scenes far better.

Cool guys don't look at explosions, they blow things up and they walk away.

This film also defines the crappiness that is the contemporary PG-13 blockbuster. What I mean is that even though numerous people are shot, stabbed, and killed, not an ounce of blood is shown on screen. And I am dead serious! The only blood in the entire film is from a staged death! It's a damn shame because it would be awesome to see Wolverine or Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) pull their swords out of people's bodies and have some blood on them for goodness sakes. James Mangold's The Wolverine thankfully corrected this error with its over abundance of blood on Wolvy's claws. Still, it's a shame that the awful digital effects and lack of blood are so painfully obvious. Less digital nonsense and more blood (even an inkling) would have made all of the film's action scenes much better.

Origins has such a huge supporting cast of character actors that it is hard to even cover them all. Liev Schriber does a great job as the film's secondary antagonist, Victor/Sabretooth. Schriber exudes so much malice and cruelty with his performance. He owns the role. The main antagonist, Stryker, is played by the amazing Danny Huston. Unfortunately, Huston isn't given any good material to work with. It's a damn shame because Huston makes for an incredible screen villain when he is given good material (i.e. 30 Days of Night, The Proposition). 

Many other actors pop up for only a few choice scenes throughout the film: Dominic Monaghan appears as a technology controlling mutant, Ryan Reynolds appears as the fast talking and sword wielding Wade, Taylor Kitsch appears as the "could have been awesome but isn't" mutant Gambit, and Will.i.am graces us with his Black Eyed Peas presence as a teleporting mutant. I hope that Will.i.am never acts again because he is truly one of the worst actors in cinema history. Origins even manages to screw up the amazing and underrated action star Scott Adkins (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning) by covering his face with ridiculous make up and making his character, Weapon XI, teleport all over the place; thereby rendering Adkin's masterful martial arts incomprehensible.

"Do you like my Roger Rabbit animated claws?"

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was originally planned to be the first of two origin films focused around Wolverine and Magneto. However, Origins was so poorly received and maligned by critics and fans, that the solo Magneto film was scrapped and turned into the excellent X-Men: First Class. It's a good thing that First Class was made instead of the aptly titled, X-Men Origins: Magneto, because the film restored the franchise to its former glory. Therefore, Origins: Wolverine has sort of become an oddball in the series. In fact, the events of this film and the previous X-Men: Last Stand were so disliked, that Bryan Singer's latest X-Men: Days of Future Past has since retconned every event in this film through time travel, thereby making it a complete and total waste of time. 

Origins is a sloppy blockbuster with awful attempts at humor, awful digital effects, and all around awful storytelling. However, I really enjoy the film as the ultimate turn your brain off kind of flick. The story moves at such a fast pace that something exciting occurs nearly ever five minutes, thereby never making the film boring. I also enjoy the old fashioned concepts of the action scenes, something that goes a long way for someone old fashioned as myself. In conclusion, I kind of like this film regardless of what anyone else thinks. It's a guilty pleasure of mine if there ever was one. I would only recommend this film to die hard X-Men and action fans, definitely no one else. If you want an incredibly violent and bad ass solo Wolverine film, turn towards James Mangold's The Wolverine. It has everything this film doesn't have. Still, Origins is a fun and sloppy good time.

Rating: 6/10 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a failed attempt at giving Wolverine a solo adventure. Still, there is some fun to be had amidst its awfulness.

Action Icon Profile: Hugh Jackman

Profession: Actor
Born: October 12, 1968
Birth Name: Hugh Michael Jackman

Career Summary:
Hugh Jackman is an Australian actor who hit it big when he starred as the classic Marvel comics book character Wolverine in the first X-Men film. He has starred in 6 X-Men films so far and cameo'd in a 7th. Wolverine is both Jackman's definitive action and overall cinematic role of his career. He brings a great intensity to the role and gives his all in every action scene. Other action roles of Jackman's are pretty forgettable but worth checking out for the die hard action fan. I watched Van Helsing a lot at a young age and loved it too. As I have grown up though, I can see how lousy the film is due to its PG-13 rating and lame CG. Still, Jackman was there with me as both Helsing and Wolverine in my youth. Therefore, Hugh Jackman is one of the few action icons I have grown up watching from the start of their career.

Personal Favorite: The Wolverine (Extended Cut) (2013)

Films:
X-Men (2000)
Swordfish (2001)
X2: X-Men United (2003)
Van Helsing (2004)
Van Helsing: The London Assignment (2004)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Real Steel (2011)
The Wolverine (2013)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
X-Men: Age of Apocalypse (2016)
The Wolverine 2 (2017)

BCOOB Awards 2013: A Year of Action In Review

2013 was a pretty good year for action. Well, at least for what I watched. Therefore, here are a whole bunch of awards that Better Clear On Out the Back is handing out to the best of the best in a year full of action! I've listed my top 10 action films as well as individual awards.

Top 10 Action Films of 2013:

10. Dead in Tombstone (dir. Roel Reine)

9. Riddick (dir. David Twohy)

8. Pacific Rim (dir. Guillermo Del Toro)

7. Snitch (dir. Ric Roman Waugh)

6. Iron Man 3 (dir. Shane Black)

5. Fast and Furious 6 (dir. Justin Lin)

4. The Man of Tai Chi (dir. Keanu Reeves)

3. A Company Man (dir. Sang yoon-Lim)

2. Drug War (dir. Johnnie To)

1. The Wolverine (dir. James Mangold)

Action Awards of 2013:

R.I.P. to Fast and Furious Lead Paul Walker

Action Scenes:

Best Shootout: Drug War - 20 Minute Finale

Best Melee/Fist Fight: The Wolverine - Bullet Train Fight

Best Race/Car Chase: Snitch - 18 Wheeler Freeway Chase

Best Epic Battle/War/Spectacle: Pacific Rim - Hong Kong Kaiju vs. Gypsy Danger

Best Action Scene Overall: Drug War - 20 Minute Finale

Dwayne Johnson proved his dramatic chops this year.

Actors:

Best Action Star: Dwayne Johnson - Highlights: Snitch, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Fast and Furious 6

Best Leading Action Performance: Hugh Jackman as "Logan/Wolverine" - The Wolverine

Best Supporting Action Performance: Sung Honglei as "Captain Zhang Lei" - Drug War

Best Action Movie Hero: Hugh Jackman as "Logan/Wolverine" - The Wolverine

Best Action Movie Villain: Sharlto Copley as "Agent Kruger" - Elysium

Best Action Movie Right Hand Man: James Badge Dale as "Eric Savin" - Iron Man 3

Reeves directs a martial arts homage for the books.

Technical:

Best Action Editing/Photography: Allen Leung - Drug War

Best Action Choreography: Yuen Woo Ping - The Man of Tai Chi

Best Action Score: Ramin Djawadi - Pacific Rim

Wolverine - Extended Cut only baby.

Films:

Biggest Surprise Action Film: Dead in Tombstone

Biggest Disappointment Action Film: Man of Steel

Best Action Summer Blockbuster: The Wolverine

Best Action Film Overall: The Wolverine