X2: X-Men United ★★★ X-Men 2 2003 (PG-13) The regulars are back as Prof. Xavier's X-Men must join forces with Magneto's mutants to battle a greater evil: a power-mad, mutant-hating general (Cox) out to find and eliminate all mutants. Cox is great as the general, full of self-righteousness and silky menace, properly denying his character the small moments of sympathy allowed to McKellan's Magneto. The story is better than in the original, even though it jams as much, if not more exposition into the plot and lingers too long on the teen romance between Rogue and Iceman. Script provides a well-executed and exciting central plot, while leaving plenty of threads and new characters that audiences will be anxious to follow in "X-Men 3." Special effects are fantastic, but they don't overshadow the story. 134m/C VHS, DVD. US Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Hugh Jackman, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Kelly Hu, Bruce Davison, Aaron Stanford, Katie Stuart, Cotter Smith, Daniel Cudmore, Peter Wingfield, Michael Reid MacKay, Keely Purvis, Jill Teed, Alf Humphreys, James Kirk;
Director:
Bryan Singer;
Writer:
Michael Dougherty, Daniel P. "Dan" Harris;
Writer:
Newton Thomas (Tom) Sigel;
Cameo:
John Ottman.
