Revenge of Geeking Out- the rest of my X2 thoughts

[ealgylden]

Mystique- lots more of her in this movie, and that can only be a good thing as far as I'm concerned. My geek-brain was happy to see her reunited with both of her kids, even if that's not true in this continuity (well, Nightcrawler could be. Nothing was said that would prove otherwise. But not so with Rogue, alas). I feel so bad for poor Rebecca Romijin-Stamos. Girl must have been cold and uncomfortable on set. But the results were so cool! The slinky, snakey way she moves is just fabulous, and her fight scenes are a pleasure to watch. Giving the guards the finger are she slides away? Cute. The cheeky wave as she locks herself in Stryker's command room? Even cuter. Her plan to get Magneto out of prison? Very, very smart. And the way she morphed her dress into her skin after taking out Fat Pig Guard was just. so. cool! It was a nice touch to see her as Sen. Kelly again- Bruce Davison did a nice job with Mystique/Kelly's walk, which was just off enough to be noticeable. I also like the effects on her voice- the layering of other voices over hers was creepy and effective. Her mini-scene with Nightcrawler ("Why not look like everyone else?" "Because we shouldn't have to.") seemed a bit thrown-in, like they wanted it somewhere but didn't really know where, but the scene itself was a good one. She said it so matter-of-factly, but still put a twist of anger and frustration on it that made it seem very real. Of course they shouldn't have to. Stupid rest of the world for not seeing that.

Nightcrawler- okay, I've always loved Kurt. He's a "top 5 fave mutants" lister for me and always has been. But movie-Kurt, if anything, is even sweeter and sadder than the comics version. The opening scene, with the Mozart and the bamfing and the tail.... I was giddy. Total geekgasm. It would have been so easy for Singer and co. to screw Nightcrawler up, and they didn't. Such a nice surprise. Alan Cumming was just so cute! His sad, confused, but still hopeful "Maybe He's testing me" was just begging for a hug. Come to Joan, Kurt! And his always cut-off "In the Munich circus..." bit was very funny. Cumming, Singer et al really got Kurt- his faith, his torment, his longing for acceptance, his essential sweetness and his joy in living that the world hasn't been able to crush. The makeup (esp. the tattoos) and FX (the tail! the bamfing! so cool!) were also dead-on. I almost wish the next movie weren't almost certainly going to be Phoenix Saga- based, because a movie with lots of Nightcrawler, Mystique, Magneto and some of the younger mutants like Kitty would just make my decade. Anyway, Nightcrawler? Five Stars. A+. Two thumbs, way up.

Magneto- Ian McKellan, will you marry me? The gay thing and the almost-forty-or-so-years-older-than-me thing are totally not a problem as far as I'm concerned. Magneto has always been my favorite X-villain and one of my favorite mutants overall. He's bad, sure. But he's so damn sympathetic. Yeah, killing millions of humans would be Bad and Wrong (especially since, if I were in the X-universe, that'd mean me. I’m not that generous), but he's so charismatic and tragic and tormented and wry that it takes a minute to remember that part of it. A truly effective villain, even with the dorky helmet. The makeup folks did a great job making him look aged and worn from Stryker's tortures, and the shot of him and Mystique standing calmly while his powers hold the Blackbird motionless inches away was pure comic book art. His escape from prison was also a great bit of comic-esque coolness- the science was a bit wonky in that "don't think too hard" way, but it was as violent and fantastic as a supervillain's jailbreak should be. He and Mystique have great chemistry as friends, "coworkers" and presumably lovers- their gossiping in the Blackbird was easy and comfortable, but their body language leads me to think they have great Evil!Sex too. And of course, Magneto has oceans of subtextual love and regret with Xavier. Overall, another stellar performance from Mr. McKellan in a role outside his stereotypical purview (and I stand by my proposal. Call me, Ian!).

Stryker and Jason 143- Why, Mr. Ashcroft, how nice to see you, you evil scary toad! The movie is loosely (very loosely) based on God Loves, Man Kills, and the Stryker who was in that was an evil preacherman-cum-vigilante-mutant-killer. This one is a military scientist, which means he can be tied to the Weapon X plot, but which also makes for some nice, scary parallels to our current climate of "Homeland Security" and all. Of course, these days the "Mutant Registration Act" would be called, I dunno, the "Defense of America Act" or the "American Purity Act," but close enough. Anyway, Stryker is eminently boo-able and Brian Cox did a good job in the part. Jerk. Boo!

Now Jason, his irreversibly damaged mutant son, isn't from GLMK but he's still a treat for the geeks. The mismatched eyes were a nice detail, the parallels to Xavier (even down to their matching wheelchairs) were cool, the fact that his illusion-self is a little girl is interesting... anyway, the easter egg is his name. Jason, pretty generic... Except that there used to be a second-tier X-Villain named Jason Wyngarde, aka Mastermind. Mastermind was a powerful illusionist with mind-controlling abilities (he once ran with Magneto in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants before going freelance), and one of the important villains in the Dark Phoenix saga (in fact, he was arguably the trigger for Dark Phoenix, although she probably would have happened anyway). He was responsible for Jean Grey's foray into S&M as the (mindcontrolled) Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, and her response to his machinations once she snapped out of it was one of the big signs that Something Was Very Wrong With Jean (dum dum DUM). So Jason Stryker is simultaneously a new character, a "remember this, geeks?" and maybe even a dark hint toward X3.

And the rest- Peter Wingfield! Woo! I've been waiting for his appearance in this since it was announced on all my Highlander lists way back when. Damn he's aging well. Sexy, sexy man, even when he's evil and has a bitty part. Face paint again, too. Cute.

You know you've watched too many bad scifi shows filmed in Vancouver when... based on a single shot, you recognize one of the Secret Service men in the first scene as Roger Cross, who has appeared in Highlander, Relic Hunter, Stargate SG-1, Outer Limits, Sentinel, X-Files and the rest , and is best "known" as Joshua/Cain in First Wave. Yay Roger!

Okay, where's Gambit? I want Gambit! There are some cast lists floating around the web that have one James Bamford listed as Gambit, but the IMDB has him as a characterless "stunt actor" (I forgot to check in the theater, natch). So does that mean in the cut scenes there's a possibility I'll see my boy doing some flips or something? Come on, give a girl something. Gambit's my favorite, hands-down, and I wanna see him!

I loved seeing all the faves in passing, though. I squealed at Hank McCoy's appearance on “Mutant Crossfire" or whatever it was (he should be in X3 too!). The other guy appearing with Hank was Sebastian Shaw, Black King of the Hellfire Club (to Jean's Queen- see, they're doing it again!) and a friend of (evil, human, non-Mystique) Sen. Kelly. One of his many companies was responsible for the Sentinels, giant mutant-hunting robots (even though Shaw himself is a mutant). He's a second-tier villain, like Jason Wyngarde and the Shadow King.

The kid they cast as Colossus was perfect. Huge and built, but with that "gentle giant" manner that Piotr needs to have. He was cute, too, and the steel skin effects were nicely done. Definitely another cast member for Part 3. Kitty was still a mite too young (she was in the first movie, too, I thought), but they used her really well. She was a great choice of young mutants to focus on during the school attack because she's both recognizable and beloved (and her powers are just cool). Really nice appearance by Theresa Rourke aka Siryn. All she did was use her powers, but she used them really well.

Mystique's hacking scene is the one I really can't wait to see on DVD, just so I can get all the references. I was able to catch some of the names in the file she pulled up, but not all. The ones I got were both Paige and Sam Guthrie (who are codenamed Husk and Cannonball respectively), Remy LeBeau (Gambit! Woo! And Singer, dude, just his name is not enough!), Eric Lensherr (Magneto, natch), Xi'an Coy Manh (Karma), Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man), and Danielle Moonstar (Moonstar- Dani's not a creative girl). I missed it, but my mom noticed the name Maximoff, which is, of course, the last name of Wanda and Pietro, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Magneto's children. Now wouldn't they be a cool addition to the next cast?

Despite the fact that I've really only talked about the stuff I liked, X2 wasn't perfect. Parts of it didn't quite work (the Jean-Scott-Logan triangle, for example), some stuff was mentioned once before vanishing forever, and Storm was a tragic waste. Still, it was really enjoyable, and I'm in a positive mood. I definitely need to see it again, but my response on a first viewing? Good work, everybody. Movies with this much pop culture baggage are tough to do well. You should all be proud (except you, Halle. Hang your head in shame).