X2 (4½ Stars)

"X2" is the film's official title, but it's often called "X-Men 2", as the second film in the X-Men trilogy. In fact, the name printed on my DVD cover is "X-Men 2", even though the name that appears on the film's splash screen is "X2".

The film's plot is loosely based on a Marvel graphic novel published in 1982 called "God loves, man kills". William Stryker, a military adviser to the American president, has hatched a plan to kill all mutants on Earth. He does this by tricking Professor X into harnessing the power of Cerebro as a destructive force. The only one who can prevent this is Magneto, who teams up with the X-Men to rescue the professor.

In typical Marvel X-Men film manner the characters are mixed up. The mutant Mastermind, with the ability to create large scale illusions, was a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in the comics. In the film he's William Stryker's son. Oh well, let's lop a half point off again, even though the film is very good if seen in a vacuum.

Strangely enough, when I watched the film today it all seemed new to me. I know that I bought the X-Men trilogy box set soon after it was released, probably in 2007, but it was like watching the film for the first time. At first I thought that I'd forgotten to watch the DVD after I bought it, but then, finally, I remembered the final scene, the last 30 seconds of the film. That's unusual for me. In most cases I can remember films clearly, even if I only saw them once 40 years ago.