[color=#000000:post_uid0]I saw this movie at 1:30 in the afternoon on the day it opened here in Kelowna. The theatre was mostly empty. This is one of the benefits of being unemployed and finished classes.

When we first saw Wolverine, walking through a landscape of mountains, trees and snow, I thought to myself "This must be Canada." There is an Alkali Lake in the BC Interior, but it doesn't have a CGI dam on it. Or a secret mutant research lab, either.

In addition to the main characters, I noticed that following mutants in the movie (or references to them):
Colossus (Metal guy who shrugged off the bullets. He was missing his Russian accent, though.)
Shadowcat (Girl who fell through the bed and ran out through the wall)
Banshee (Sorta...the girl with the sonic scream seemed to exhibit Banshee's power, but in the comics Banshee was a guy. However, the banshees of Irish myth were women. Draw your own conclusions)
Beast (The TV in the bar where that security guard got waylaid by Mystique showed an interview with Dr. Hank McCoy)
Gambit (When Mystique broke into the government office, the name on the list above the one she was looking at was Remy LeBeau, or something similar. This is Gambit's real name. There were probably others on that list that I didn't notice)
Jubilee (The Chinese girl who comes into Picard's...sorry, Professor X's study at the end. I think.)
Lady Deathstrike (Stryker's pet mutant with the Wolverine-type claws. I don't think they referred to her by this name, but I recognise the character. Took me the entire more to do it, though.)
Phoenix (Not really a mutant, but a significant part of the Marvel Girl/Jean Grey story arc. Manifested by the flames crackling around her at the climax of the movie.)

Anybody see something I missed?[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]I haven't seen it yet, but they made Yuriko Oyama a mutant? Int he original comic, I think, she's just a human with cybernetic implants.

Weird.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0]I haven't seen it yet, but they made Yuriko Oyama a mutant? Int he original comic, I think, she's just a human with cybernetic implants.
[/quote:post_uid0]

She's got the same mutant healing factor as Wolverine. I dunno if she's got his animal senses as well. She's also undergone the adamantium process, and she's got five claws on each hand that grow out of her fingertips.

I only know Lady Deathstrike from the TV cartoon, and I seem to recall her hanging out with a bunch of Australian self-made men. They augmented themselves cybernetically.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]The movie totally, utterly, totally, absolutely, and totally rocked.

The opening scene alone, with Nightcrawler, was pure cinematic genious.

Me being the Matrix sequels naysayer I am, I have trouble believing there will be a better sequel this summer than X2. Amazing.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0="Sa'ar Chasm"]Banshee (Sorta...the girl with the sonic scream seemed to exhibit Banshee's power, but in the comics Banshee was a guy. However, the banshees of Irish myth were women. Draw your own conclusions)

Lady Deathstrike (Stryker's pet mutant with the Wolverine-type claws. I don't think they referred to her by this name, but I recognise the character. Took me the entire more to do it, though.)[/quote:post_uid0]

Actually... I think they did mention Deathstrike's name. Once. Somewhere. And she only got one line in the whole movie!

Re: girl with sonic scream
I was very amused by that scene... all I could think was... "Jool"... :D

The movie absolutely rock. Although I'll beg to differ and say that nothing can beat the Matrix sequels! I bet they kick major ass! I cannot wait :)[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Didn't Rogue kill Lady Deathstrike in the comics? Or am I thinking of someone else?

Anyway, good movie. Struck me as being much like the first. Of course I got those intentionally strong [i:post_uid0]Star Trek II[/i:post_uid0] vibes at the end of the movie.

Not much else to say about it. Saw it last night.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]One word: wow.
[quote:post_uid0]Anyway, good movie. Struck me as being much like the first. Of course I got those intentionally strong Star Trek II vibes at the end of the movie.[/quote:post_uid0]
Actually, I was reading Scott Kurtz's review of it, and he mentioned many more similarities to 'The Wrath of Khan':
[quote:post_uid0]- Stryker holds a grudge against Xavier over the death of his wife and is seeking revenge, just like Khan.
- Both Stryker and Khan used mind controlling agents to turn the heroes against one another.
- Jean and Spock both sacrifice themselves to save the ship and their friends.
- Both Khan and X2 end with a flyby of the resting place of the slain character. In both movies, the slain character delivers the opening monologue from the previous movie. Mark says that even the music at the end of X2 is actually very close to the music at the end of Khan.
- In Khan, Spock gives Kirk a copy of A Tale of Two Cities. In X2, both Xavier and Magneto are currently reading Once and future King. Message, Spock?
- Both movies use the image of rising sunlight as a symbol of hope after a horrible tragedy. The sun rising behind Genesis and the sun hitting Xavier's face. Both he and Kirk realize that everything is going to work out. Both feel renewed.
- In both Khan and X2, they leave an opening for the eventual return of the slain character.
[/quote:post_uid0]
In general, I thought this whole movie was ingenious. I would have really enjoyed it if not for the stupid kid in the theatre with the laser pointer. :madder:[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]^ Interesting points on the further similarities. I noticed the similar endings but didn't think much about the other points. I had a good chuckle over watching Magneto read [i:post_uid0]The Once and Future King[/i:post_uid0], but that was all I thought of that.

One thing about the death that always bothered me was the fact that the X-Men had Bobby with them. Why couldn't he just run out and freeze all the water before it swallowed up the ship? No sacrifice necessary.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]'cause Bobby ain't very powerful yet. Remember, he's still a student who's not in full control of his powers. Freezing a lakeful of water would be challanging, to say the least.

And even if he could, what about the momentum? Instead of a lakeful of water hurling itself at the blackbird, you'd have a lakeful of ice.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0="ijdgaf"]Instead of a lakeful of water hurling itself at the blackbird, you'd have a lakeful of ice.[/quote:post_uid0]
*ahem hem hem*

[b:post_uid0]CRUNCH![/b:post_uid0]

Water hurts. Ice hurts more. Ouchie.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0]Why couldn't he just run out and freeze all the water before it swallowed up the ship? No sacrifice necessary.[/quote:post_uid0]

Or why Marvel Girl/Jean Grey/Whatever she's calling herself this week couldn't fly the damn ship from inside it.

I expected her to simply pick it up, not magically make the engines come on. Or why Prof. X couldn't add his pyschic strength to the effort, even if he was weakened by his ordeal. Once the Blackbird was flying on its own, it could clear the water, Chuck could take over diverting the water around Jean and Nightcrawler could blip in and out again.

I think the sacrifice came from character angst, and the need to set up the Phoenix story.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]I think Xavier is just a telepath, not a telekinetic. Jean Grey is more telekinetic than telepath.

I think.

EDIT: In the comic and cartoon series, she is "killed" and contacted by the Phoenix entity the same(ish) way: trying to save the ship, Jean Grey attempts to shield herself and pilot the ship to safety, etc etc...[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0]I think Xavier is just a telepath, not a telekinetic. Jean Grey is more telekinetic than telepath.

I think.
[/quote:post_uid0]

Didn't he catch the bullet in the first movie? Of course, this begs the question why he can't simply carry himself around instead of using the wheelchair.

I know, I know, fatigue, etc. I was just being silly.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]In the cop scene you mean? That was Magneto showing off, holding the cops hostage using their weapons against them.

Though only nickel, iron and cobalt are magnetic, so he should only be able to mess with stuff with those metals in them.

Ah well. ;)[/color:post_uid0]

[quote:post_uid0="Sa'ar Chasm"][color=#000000:post_uid0]Didn't he catch the bullet in the first movie? Of course, this begs the question why he can't simply carry himself around instead of using the wheelchair.

I know, I know, fatigue, etc. I was just being silly.[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]Wasnt Jean Gray in the car with him? I think she is the one who stopped the bullet.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0]Wasnt Jean Gray in the car with him? I think she is the one who stopped the bullet.[/quote:post_uid0]

I seem to recall Magneto taunting Chuckie about stopping them all, but my recollection is incomplete.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0]Of course, this begs the question why he can't simply carry himself around instead of using the wheelchair.[/quote:post_uid0]

Maybe they were going for that Commander Shore chic. It's very in you know.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Xavier took over Sabretooth's body and was going to attempt to kill Magneto, but Magneto used Xavier's concern for normals to escape: he took the guns out of the hands of the police and pointed them back at the police, daring Xavier to kill him, in which case the guns would go off and kill people.[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0="Sa'ar Chasm"]I seem to recall Magneto taunting Chuckie about stopping them all, but my recollection is incomplete.[/quote:post_uid0]
I got the impression that it was Magneto himself who stopped the bullet, as well. He definitely did say that he couldn't stop all the bullets.... this I know because I just rewatched the first movie couple of weeks back.

But regarding the dam... I agree that either Storm or Iceman could have helped Jean by freezing the water.

And I don't get it. Why did she have to be OUTSIDE to divert the flow of water? COuldn't she just have done it while she was in the shuttle as well?[/color:post_uid0]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]I believe it was established that Iceman needs to be in physicaly proximity to actually freeze anything major, as the ice barrier. In the ship he probably could have, you know, made the windows fog up.

As for Storm, she would have had to raise a gale to divert the water. Which takes time, and they would all have drowned.

Water traveling at sufficient speed and pressure can cut metal in half. A water "blade" is actually a technology being investigated for a new demining machine.

Neither Iceman or Storm could have done anything fast enough, so they would have all died anyway.

Re: Jean Grey.

Perhaps she knew she'd survive, having been contacted by the Phoenix entity. That's what the shape under the water was, the fiery effect, the sudden shift in power, and probably the dreams mentioned as a "throwaway" by Cyclops.[/color:post_uid0]