X2 picks up an uncertain amount of time after the original ended. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman- Swordfish, Someone Like You) is still trying to figure out his past. Magneto (Ian McKellan- The Lord of the Rings, Emelie) is trapped in his plastic prison. And Jean Gray (Famke Janssen- The Faculty) is having bad dreams about something wicked coming on the horizon.
     It's not long before Professor X (Patrick Stewart- T.V. series Startrack) is kidnapped, the Mutant Academy is raided by feds, and the X-Men are scattered as they find themselves on the run from Johnny Law. They're trying to figure out what evil plan a military guy named Stryker (Brian Cox- Manhunter) has in store for them and humanity, and why he has such an axe to grind against mutants.
     The story hinges on an uneasy alliance between the X-Men and Magneto's camp, which provides some unique opportunities for the old enemies to interact without battle cries at each other. As usual, the bad guys steal the show, especially McKellan's dry insults and shapeshifting Mystique actually getting to take the form of the actress who plays her (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me).
The bulk of the film is fun and genuinely entertaining, but so much of it is just throat-clearing, long-winded attempts to give Storm (Halle Berry- Losing Isiah, James Bond: Die Another Day) something to do or work the comparatively boring Cyclops (James Marsden- Distrubing Behavior, Gossip) into the film.
     In the end, I enjoyed X2 more than the original. X2 has some surprisingly touching moments and some surprises to boot. Those endless subplots even end up having a purpose, by setting up a number of avenues to take us into X3.