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X2: X-Men United

The Smashing Sequel to the Smash Hit X Men, X2: X Men United, picks up almost exactly where the original left off: with Hugh Jackman in Black Leather. This time, though, he's freezing his personals off while looking for the base where Professor Xavier, played by Hot Bad Guy Patrick Stewart, thinks he may have suffered his trauma, which caused all kinds of things: amnesia, claws that come out of his fists, and, of course, a dodgy haircut. He doesn't find the base and heads back to the Xavier School for the Gifted where all hell is breaking loose. Seems a crazy guy found out the school's little secret and, in a Naziesque plot, has decided to rid the world of mutants by using Professor X as a Weapon of Mass Destruction. (Apparently they were in Westchester all along.) Wackiness ensues, including a semi-clad Rogue, a cat with a penchant for frozen tea, and, naturally, a wicked prison break by Magneto, portrayed again by Hot and Cool Bad Guy Ian McKellen. Blah, blah, blah, the plot doesn't work, the mutants save the day, and peace is restored.

This movie has far more stuff in it than the original: more Bad Guys, more Characters, more Stuff. While I have a soft spot in my heart for the first one for introducing me to the glory that is Hugh Jackman, I have to admit, this flick is pretty gosh darn good. And it has Cool Bad Guy Alan Cumming in a lovely shade of blue. Plus, one of the best prison break scenes Ever Filmed. Seriously. Dude, he pulled the iron out of the guy's BLOOD! Awesome.