Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Beaks called me right after seeing this, totally jazzed. He wrote his review quickly, enthusiastically. And then I proceeded to sit on it for over 24 hours because I literally don’t have enough hours in the day. It’s a shame, too, because it’s another great piece by Beaks. He’s well-behaved as far as spoilers are concerned, so enjoy.
X2 (d. Bryan Singer, w. Dan Harris, Mike Dougherty, Zak Penn, David Hayter & Singer)
This is the one; the comic book movie we used to play in our heads as kids. Crammed with nods to characters known only to the faithful, and acknowledging the source material’s rich backstory without bogging down in exposition; this is the film we always wished Hollywood had the audacity to make, even though we understood the cost prohibitive nature of these fantastic, outsized universes. If only.
Our imaginations need no longer be straitjacketed because such a universe now exists thanks to Bryan Singer and the rest of the creative team behind X2. Armed with a much more generous budget this time out, Singer’s delivered on the tantalizing promise of the first X-MEN, which now looks every bit the demo reel compared to this lavishly produced superhero epic. In the wake of SPIDER-MAN’s $400 million-plus domestic gross, this franchise has undergone a cinematic adamantium treatment and emerged from the lab an unstoppable crowd-pleasing machine. Its confidence is infectious; X2 has swagger. Comic book fans, it’s time to pop the Cristal!
And it couldn’t come soon enough. After the first Marvel misstep in DAREDEVIL, there was a noticeable flagging of enthusiasm for the comic book film revolution, its ground zero being Owen Gleiberman’s nastily negative review in Entertainment Weekly (in which he lamented that the film made him “rue the day” the genre took over Hollywood). Though his scorched earth proclamation was a bit much, betraying a probable lack of enthusiasm for the four-color world in general, I shared his frustration with Mark Steven Johnson’s fatally flawed adaptation. If ever a script was undone by lackluster execution, it was DAREDEVIL. Awful fight choreography, ungainly CGI and a wildly inconsistent tone combined to turn what should’ve been a tightly paced sprint through Hell’s Kitchen into a tone-deaf flail dominated by a charismatic villain (Bullseye) with maybe twenty minutes of screentime. For a fan of the form, who, like most of you reading this, grew up a true believer of the principal characters in Stan Lee’s Marvel Universe, it was a crushing failure. Worse were the miffed reactions of my non-comic reading friends who I dragged to the film, which foreshadowed DD’s so-so box office performance. ($150 million is the new $100 million, and grossing barely more than half your opening weekend is not a good sign.) I walked out of the theater worrying that the film’s inability to connect with regular audiences would curtail the collective budgets of every property that wasn’t called SPIDER MAN.
Because of this unfortunate development, let there be no doubt: X2 is the most crucial comic book movie yet. The BLADE franchise excluded, this is the first sequel, and, as I’ve said, it’s huge in scope. But most important, it’s a busy narrative dense with incident that not only assumes the first X-MEN is fresh in your memory, but that you’re also going to pay close attention to the story. Because X2 does not suffer gladly the lazy viewer. The set-up is there; all the elements are in place, and the writers – Dan Harris, Mike Dougherty, Zak Penn, David Hayter and Singer – have structured the story effectively so that nearly every thread gets tied up satisfactorily (though there *might* be one or two left dangling). But some might find all this activity dizzying.
It’s a good thing, then, that X-MEN, in both the comic and the film, has always been about character first, and X2 succeeds on nearly every count in that department. Early on, with his triumphant return to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, we’re reminded just what a masterstroke the casting of Hugh Jackman was in the first movie. It’s fun to watch him throw his rakish charm on Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey much to the dismay of James Marsden’s stiff Cyclops (who seems more upset about Logan requisitioning his motorcycle than making moves on his girl). Singer and company have, in large part, wisely built this film around Wolverine’s slowly dawning self-discovery, rewarding Jackman with the opportunity to flesh out and amplify emotions and behavior only hinted at in the previous film. There are more intense flashbacks to the lab in which Wolverine was “created”, resulting in some pretty grisly images, and some quieter moments with Jean where we find that, for once, a girl can do just fine without a scoundrel in her life. But best of all, Wolvie is finally given a little more room to perpetrate some real mayhem. Jackman responds by locating the savage heart of the character; tapping into that unrelenting killer instinct that we know so well from the comics. Nowhere is this better displayed than in the assault on the Xavier School, which Wolverine nearly has to defend by himself (he gets a little help, but you’ll have to see the film for yourself to find out who else jumps into the fray).
Another nice twist with this film is how allegiances temporarily shift, with enemies teaming up to ensure their own survival. Magneto benefits most from these twisty dynamics, and Ian McKellen succeeds predictably in finding the sad and fearful in this otherwise fiercely commanding figure. We also glimpse his powerfully seductive nature when he senses a potential recruit in Aaron Stanford’s angst-y, irresponsible Pyro. Magneto’s line to the volatile youngster – “You are a god among insects; never let anyone tell you otherwise” – is a classic.
Magneto playing chameleon leaves open the role of sniveling villain for Brian Cox as General William Stryker, a virulently anti-mutant presidential advisor who views these exceptionally gifted creatures as a threat to mankind. But unlike Senator Kelly in X-MEN, Stryker’s mutant loathing is the product of something deeply personal and utterly repugnant. There are no glimmers of any redeeming qualities in Stryker. He’s the emphatic embodiment of an unrepentant racist with a psychotic zeal for torturing the object of his hatred. And in Cox’s capable hands, he’s a doozy of a bad guy.
The most heavily anticipated addition to the lineup in X2 is Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler, and it’s a role for which Alan Cumming couldn’t be more perfectly suited. Drawing on the childlike innocence of his work in SPY KIDS and combining it with the trembling vulnerability of a frightened animal, Cumming *is* Nightcrawler. Though Wolverine might carry the heaviest narrative load, I walked away feeling that X2 was Nightcrawler’s movie. His presence imbues the franchise with that one element it was lacking in the first film: a soul. And never fear about his teleporting; Michael Fink and his visual f/x team have that purple cloud look down pat. And, yes, “Bamf” sounds like “Bamf”.
In lieu of discussing plot points, one issue with these films that I’d like to address is the idea of fidelity to the text. As has become de rigueur with anything even remotely fanboy related, there has been endless griping over alterations both big and small to the Marvel mythos (it’s reached obnoxious levels with Ang Lee’s HULK, which will be the first bona fide classic of this new geek wave). Make no mistake, there are many differences between Bryan Singer’s X-MEN and, say, Chris Claremont’s X-MEN, but this is not only to be expected, it’s absolutely necessary. We are witnessing the careful creation of the Marvel Films Universe, which is going to deviate sharply from the Marvel Comics Universe (and, hopefully, bear no resemblance to the Marvel Comics’ New Universe, though I know PSI FORCE remains a favorite title of Harry’s) as is bound to happen when works transfer from one medium to another. And it baffles me as to why this should be considered a bad thing. Would you rather these films become little more than glorified picture books, or do you want to see these beloved characters, perfectly cast and performed for the most part, thrust into new adventures resonating with the echoes of their literary exploits? It’s a shame if you fall into the first camp because there’s massive potential in the latter option. It’s all right there in X2’s sure-to-be-discussed final shot. On one hand, it’s a powerful evocation of one of the comic’s best storylines, but it’s incredibly thrilling because I have no idea where they’re going to take it next.
This is the greatest triumph of X2, and it’s precisely why you should avoid every spoiler floating around online until May 2nd. We’re in uncharted territory with a whole lot of creative realty to work with. And as long as Bryan Singer and company are at the helm, the surprises should be nothing but positive.
Faithfully submitted,
Mr. Beaks
I’d like to clarify something from the other day, and this will be a bit of a spoiler. People seem to think that I said that you’ll actually see Gambit running around. I didn’t. I said that there is a nod to the character, an acknowledgement of sorts, but it’s not what you think. Also, if you’re walking around thinking that reading the novelization or the comic adaptation has given you all the answers regarding the film, you’re wrong. Both of them are radically incomplete representations of what to expect when May 2nd finally gets here.
Can’t wait to see how you guys react when you finally see it...
"Moriarty" out.
