CinemaNow - X2: X-Men United

Overseas critics are reviewing X-Men 2 a day ahead of its U.S. opening. (It apparently is opening overseas a day earlier because of the May Day labor holiday, which is not celebrated in the U.S.) Most appear to agree, it's a spectacular improvement on the original. Sandra Hall in the Sydney Morning Herald calls the film infinitely lighter on its feet than the first film. This is a film which excites the eye without numbing the brain, she adds. Pavel Ivanov, in the Bulgarian English-language newspaper Sofia Echo comments: Allowed to spend all the money he ever wanted, [director Bryan Singer] delivers a film that is tightly paced, and with a story that functions well within its defined universe. It is not our own, but there are exhilarating moments when we wish it were. BBC critic Darren Waters writes: The golden rule of any blockbuster sequel is to give the audience more of everything - and in this respect at least, X-Men 2 does not disappoint. Mike Goodridge, writing for the British trade paper Screen International, says that the film rises above the formulaic superhero realm to produce rousing blockbuster entertainment. Other critics are not so impressed, damning the film with faint praise. Writes Barbara Ellen in the London Times: X-Men 2 remains a decent enough sci-fi effort, which delivers on most of the levels fans could expect. Too bad it's hampered by a plot that wouldn't get green-lit for an average episode of Buffy. And Ong Sor Fern of the Singapore Straits Times concludes: This summer blockbuster will please the peanut gallery, but more hardcore fans might mourn the loss of some of the brainy layering which made the first one such a joy.

X-Men: The Last Word is not just a comic book brought to the screen. It's a Marvel comic book with ideas brought to screen, several critics observe. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times notes that there are enough parallels with current politics that to list them is to define the next presidential campaign. While Ebert does express some misgivings about the film, he concludes that overall, he enjoyed it. I liked the action, I liked the absurdity, I liked the incongruous use and misuse of mutant powers, and I especially liked the way it introduces all of those political issues and lets them fight it out with the special effects. Jan Stuart in Newsday also is impressed, writing: It is a testament to the thoroughgoing craft and seriousness of purpose with which the first two X-Men installments were made that all of the primary players have returned for this bruising and brooding go-round, which loses little in urgency, complexity or muscularity for being the shortest of the trilogy. Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal figures that the latest X-Men beats its forerunners. Surprise, surprise, he writes. The latest sequel has shifted the shape of the franchise from pretty good, if uninspired, to terrifically entertaining. That opinion is not shared by Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post, who complains that director Brett Ratner has failed to do justice to the Marvel superheroes the way his predecessor, Bryan Singer, had in the first two X-Men films. Ratner, she writes, makes a hash of the story and characters ... delivering a pumped-up exercise in mayhem, carnage and blunt-force trauma. Similarly Geoff Pevere writes in the Toronto Star: Seen in purely commercial terms, X-Men: The Last Stand is likely to deliver the basic goods to people merely looking to have their skulls rattled on a summer afternoon. To anyone more discerning, and certainly to those fans who cherish

I thought this movie was great. It had alot of action, and it made sense the plot was great. But the reason why I did give it a 4 is that some of the characters did not do a whole lot. Like you would like them to do, or expect them too. But, the ending was phonamenal and you could tell that there would soon be a 3rd movie. Which by the way was great! They made Storm do alot, which was awesome, and it showed off her powers. Kelsey Grammar(Beast), did fantastic, and it came up to my standards. The discovery of Angel, was awesome but I wish he did more in X3. Overall, all the movies were great. I can tell you that there will be a 4th X-men.