X2: X‑Men United does a lot of things right. It adds more mutants. It adds light and color. The fights are bigger and better. It’s like they didn’t trust the first movie to do well, so they held back. Then once it was a hit, they gave the sequel all the money.

If you didn’t like the first movie, skip this one. It’s more of The Wolverine Show: he gets most of the cool action scenes, and the film is convinced that his mysterious past is inherently fascinating.

And, not for nothing, they ruined one of my favorite characters by stunt‑casting him with an actor known more for being a bit creepy than anything else.