X2 is the only X-Men movie that ever really nailed the X-formula

polygon.com:

For nearly two decades, 20th Century Fox produced X-Men films with a pretty simple formula. Each movie had a dual marquee plotline: one that was a grander, blockbuster-friendly event (and often a comic book adaptation), and one that provided a more personal emotional arc for a character. Sometimes they intersected in serviceable ways: The first film’s personal arc belongs to the runaway Rogue (Anna Paquin), who is horrified by her mutant powers, while Magneto (Ian McKellen), representing the other end of the spectrum, is trying to turn world leaders into mutants.

But often, the paired plotlines never gel: With X-Men: The Last Stand, director Brett Ratner and writers Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn seemingly couldn’t decide whether to focus on Magneto, Jean Grey, Rogue, or Wolverine. The film is so bloated that its mega-arc about a bittersweet “mutant cure” falls flat, and none of the cast members get space to breathe.

It doesn’t help that Wolverine evolved from major mutant player to the X-brand’s central mascot as of 2000’s X-Men, so even movies where he isn’t the central character, likeDays of Future Past, are forced to operate in his shadow. But one film makes the standard X-formula work, not only by combining the emotional arc with the event arc, but by making fitting use of Wolverine’s leading-man status.2003’s X2 merges various comic book storylines as a springboard to explore the mutant struggle, and it delivers on promises the prior film only hinted at, and that many of the later films missed entirely.

The original 2000 X-Men gets by on the strength of its casting. Everyone is likable, especially Hugh Jackman, but Ian McKellan’s haunted gaze really seals the deal. The direction, on the other hand, is fairly