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"X-2" By Rachel Deahl Review Film Critic Click for the Official Site No matter what you call it, and with alternate titles including "X-Men 2" and the shortened "X-2", the sequel to last summer's popcorn comic book hit is irresistibly fun. Helmed again by wunderkind Bryan Singer (who was launched into the upper tier of the directorial Hollywood A-list with his sophomore effort, "The Usual Suspects"), this follow-up is a glib, enjoyable expansion on the beloved Marvel world. Like so many comic book series that work well on screen, the first attribute of the "X-Men" storyline is that it's smart and feels as grounded in science as science fiction. For those who don't remember the first film (or, possibly, didn't see it) and are unfamiliar with the comic book, the basic gist behind the series is that in a not-so-distant future the Earth sees the birth of a new species. More specifically, evolution yields a superhuman life form and human beings begin spawning another race, the members of which are dubbed mutants. Blessed (and to a certain extent cursed) with unique super-powers, the mutant race is constantly at odds with the humans - with some "evil" factions in both groups looking to wipe out their evolutionary other. Singer here wisely underscores the obvious social implications inspired by "X-Men", as in his first film. Where the original set mutant against mutant as the peace-loving (and human-loving) X-Men attempted to stop the faction within their group looking to wipe out the race of man, the sequel unites the super-powered heroes and villains as the humans attempt to carry out the extinction. The distinction, while a slight one, allows the sequel to be even more fun and inventive. Riffing on the comedic scenarios that can arise from Mutant status, "X-2" is more playful than the original, and funnier. Whether watching new teenage X-Man, Bobby (nicknamed Iceman for his skills), try to get to second base with a girlfriend who happens to suck the life out of anyone she touches, or seeing shape-shifting Mystique nuzzle up to Wolverine as she conveniently changes into a series of his possibly desired partners, "X-2" is equally about the ironies of having super-powers as it is the way in which they can be used to save mankind.
More than anything, "X-2" delights in the bizarre and unexpected, chronicling the ways each of its gifted characters can employ their particular skills. And, whether it means Iceman is chilling a warm soda or building a thick wall of frozen water to stop a brigade of soldiers, the fun is always finding out how and when these powers come in handy. With an array of dazzling special effects to match its smart storytelling, it's hard to think of a moviegoer who won't be pleased with what "X-2" has to offer. The stellar cast from the first film, which included wonderful turns from Hugh Jackman as the brooding Wolverine and Ian McKellen as the scheming and debonair super-villain Magneto, is only improved upon with juicy new roles for Brian Cox (playing a maniacal army general) and Alan Cumming (as a sweetly religious Austrian X-Man named Kurt Wagner with movement and teleportation powers). An infectious good time, "X-2" will no doubt make you forget about the doldrums of human existence and leave you wondering what kind of Mutant you'd most like to be. Grade: A- IDENTITY Click for the Official Site A rainy night, a chintzy, desolate roadside motel and a string of guests who check in but never check out. Sound familiar? It should since "Identity," an intelligent and atmospheric new horror flick from the director of "Cop Land" and "Heavy," draws openly and skillfully from the cinematic masterpiece that set the bar for B-grade horror films. Filmed on a set that looks as if it has been lovingly and skillfully resurrected from the Bates Motel lot, "Identity" deftly weaves a familiar yarn around an homage to a screen classic. When a group of strangers is waylaid at an out-of-the-way Nevada motel, the guest list begins to dwindle as each character is systematically knocked off - presumably by a killer within their midst. Borrowing its storyline from Agatha Christie's "10 Little Indians" and its visual oeuvre from Hitchcock's "Psycho," "Identity" is a smart little rip-off of a film that manages to chart its own course through its expertly crafted storyline and a surprisingly smart trick ending. Beginning with a story that back-pedals to reveal the short chronology of events that brings each stranger to the hotel; the film quickly establishes the background and whereabouts of the majority of its cast. George York (John C McGinley), a painfully introverted and uptight husband, is the first to arrive with his ill wife and young son. While fixing a flat on the empty highway, his wife was accidentally hit by another driver. The other driver is a dejected but well-meaning limo operator named Ed (John Cusack) on his way to deliver a waning actress (Rebecca DeMournay) to Los Angeles. Immediately offering his help to the family he's just torn asunder, Ed takes the bunch to the only nearby spot to be found - the Bates-looking motel.
Stranded without phone service, Ed makes one futile attempt to get to the hospital on flooding roads and, failing, he winds up running into three more strangers he brings back to the hotel: Paris (Amanda Peet), a former hooker on her way to Florida and newlyweds Ginny (Clea Duvall) and Lou (William Lee Scott). Quickly settling into their skimpy surroundings, everybody is sent off to their room by the dorky hotel manager, Larry (John Hawkes). The last pair to arrive, and the one to cause the most anxiety, is a cop (Ray Liotta) who's transporting a convicted murderer (Jake Busey). A horror movie for people who like horror movies, "Identity" is a fairly obvious film about film. While it doesn't employ the postmodern jabber of "Scream" and the endless spin-offs it's inspired, it does thrust familiar imagery at its audience over and over again. The dank rooms, the hidden alleyways, the empty pool, the boarded-up cafeteria - its all so familiar and pregnant with the possibility of movie-style horror. And, as each cast member is knocked off, the film shifts from its Hitchcockian beginnings as a salacious slasher film into the Agatha Christie whodunit. Luckily, Mangold plays with his wonderful set throughout, not so much scaring us, but rather reminding us that we should be scared. In this way "Identity" isn't as scary as it is reminiscent of scarier movies - a distinction which makes it more memorable than most horror films which try to toy with your pulse instead of your mind.
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