...is a very sexist title for a film (and indeed a comic series) that also features women, but there you go. It's not actually the official title of the film, which is X2, but if you start advertising a film called X2 you're going to get a lot of parents dragging their children along expecting them to be taught their two times table instead. Oh no, the movie is much more about division than multiplication.
In the world of the X-Men there's a growing group of mutants in our society who feel and act differently. They've learnt to band together in secret underground groups, occasionally breaking out to form pressure groups demanding action against prejudice and misguided legislation. Most discover they are different during adolescence, while some only come to terms with who and what they are after much soul-searching later in life. A young mutant needs to come out as different to his family, who may not take the news well and may even try to turn him over to the authorities. There are definitely more males than females within this particular genetic group, and when they fall in love it's always with one of their own. They tend to wear trendy figure-hugging clothes, some have a lot of facial hair or tattoos, while the older ones are often bald by choice. Sound familiar?
The film kicks off with a thrilling assault on the Oval Office at the White House. The plot, such as it is, centres around the need to put right the PR damage this attack has caused to the mutants' cause. Everyone gets a chance to show off their special power in the process, even if the story feels a threadbare method of linking these set pieces together. It's also easy to pick holes in the plot (look, one of you has the power to turn water into ice - why on earth should the collapse of a huge great dam be so difficult to stop?) but there's easily enough here to keep you entertained for two hours. The film's also stayed pretty much true to its comic book roots, and there's lots here to keep the fans happy before the inevitable release of X3. Marks out of ten? 2X2X2
