X2: X-Men United (2003)
Directed by Bryan Singer
Eugenics; Genetic discrimination; Mutations; Science fiction
After the President is attacked by a mutant, elimination of the “mutant problem” becomes paramount for a rogue government agent who targets Charles Xavier’s school.
“The war has begun,” declares Magneto in this sequel to 2000’s “X-Men”. In the original film, Professor Charles Xavier undermines Magneto’s attempts to destroy an intolerant human race; now, Xavier’s X-Men unite with Magneto’s band of rogue mutants to thwart Col. William Stryker. Stryker has been battling the so-called “mutant problem” since Xavier failed to “cure” his son of his mutant abilities. In order to convince the President to invade Xavier’s school, Stryker stages a mutant attack on the Oval Office. Troops kidnap several of the mutant students for transport to Stryker’s lair at Alkali Lake, although Wolverine manages to smuggle out powerful adolescents Iceman, Rogue and Pyro. They reunite with Storm and Dr. Jean Grey, who have discovered that the assassin was chemically manipulated by Stryker into attacking the President, and together they follow him to Alkali Lake to rescue Xavier. The colonel captured Xavier because the professor has the ability to locate mentally all other mutants through a device called Cerebro. By using his son to infiltrate Xavier’s subconscious, Stryker hopes to use Cerebro to destroy the entire mutant population. The X-Men must overcome his manipulations, as well as divisions among their ranks, in order to prevent the universal massacre of the mutants.
The film opens with queries about the true nature of mutants: are they a new species of humans, or a new link on the evolutionary chain? In either case, the conflict between non-mutants and mutants seems inevitable, because elimination of one species will be necessary for the other’s survival. Storm explains to her students that one theory indicates that Cro-Magnon breeding with Neanderthals led to the latter’s extinction, and her account identifies one of the roots of human-mutant conflict. If mutants and humans are not isolated, if they are in fact allowed to interbreed, could the mutants’ powerful DNA effectively eradicate the non-mutants’ genetic legacy? It is this fear which Stryker is able to channel to convince the President to shut down Xavier’s academy. Magneto’s decision to reverse Cerebro to target humans may be regarded as unnecessary violence, but his actions can also be perceived as self-preservative; indeed, how can he trust non-mutants not to attack again? Stryker has not only attempted to annihilate the world’s mutants but has also experimented extensively on them. Stryker abuses Wolverine’s ability to regenerate by implanting indestructible adamantium on his skeletal frame, operates on his own son’s brain to extract mind-controlling neural secretions, and then uses these secretions to manipulate Magneto and Cyclops. While Stryker might seem anomalously vindictive, even non-mutant families have trouble accepting their mutant kin. It seems the mutants’ only recourse is to break ties with their families and unite under the protective umbrella of their powers.
Evaluation: Although dark, Singer balance the kinetic aspects of the plot with complex characterizations, making this as much an exploration of the mutant psychology as it is an action-packed conflict between mutants and humans.
– Natalie Champ