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| Take Superman literally, and you have nothing more than a
strong man in a funny outfit - but if you regard him as, say, the champion
of good old fashioned black-and-white (or, more precisely, red-white-and-blue)
values in a newer, more morally ambiguous world, then suddenly his caped
adventures become very much a myth for our times. Forget muscles of steel,
forget bullet-beating speed, forget the ability to leap tall buildings in
a single bound - the real power of the superhero is to offer a fantasy model
in which an alienated, misunderstood figure is empowered to solve all the
problems of the contemporary world.
'X-Men 2', the inevitable sequel to 'X-Men', features not one superhero, but a whole ensemble, and accordingly it is able to present many different varieties of alienation - ranging from wheel-chair bound boffins (Patrick Stewart as Prof. Xavier) to men with ridiculously retro haircuts (Hugh Jackman as Wolverine), from concentration-camp surviving Jews (Ian McKellen as Magneto) to angry blacks (Halle Berry as Storm), from wearers of glasses (James Marsden as Cyclops) to bluestockings (Famke Janssen as Dr Jane Grey) to people with actual blue skin (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler). People like these (especially blue-skinned ones) suffer social exclusion every day, and the prejudice which they face is the real theme here, with their special mutant powers serving merely to underline their existing marginal status (as well as coming in handy for saving the world). Of course 'X-Men 2' also has several representatives from that most alienated of all groups - teenagers. Rogue (Anna Paquin) wonders when she and her boyfriend should have their first kiss - a familiar enough teen dilemma made all the more problematic by the fact that her touch is deadly; meanwhile Iceman (Shaun Ashmore) is forced to come out to his parents...that he is a mutant - and Pyro (Aaron Stanford) just wants to set the town on fire. This sort of material is all too familiar from ' Buffy', and leaves it clear, if there was ever any doubt, who is the film's target demographic. 'X-Men 2' has an impressive array of first-class actors (including the ever-extraordinary Brian Cox as manipulative mutant-hater General Stryker), yet one wonders why so much talent has been so squandered. A long catalogue of quirky powers (each with its accompanying special effect) seems to have been substituted for any sense of character depth. The initial excitement created by the action set-pieces soon wears thin as it becomes clear how little one actually cares what happens to any of these underdeveloped heroes in their bid for acceptance amongst humans. And there is so much sanctimonious rescuing of children and sermonising against xenophobia that one almost forgets what a ruthlessly murderous and self-involved figure is cut by the protagonist Wolverine. 'X-Men 2' is not bad - indeed for a sequel it is quite good - but it is unlikely to cure everyone's prejudice against mutants. Anton Bitel, 4.5.3 |
