BATTLE OF THE X'S: I blabber about The Matrix so much, you might not get the impression that I actually think X2 is the best movie of the summer thus far. And it is; despite being about a divergent human species it's completely grounded in human relationships--not the Wachowskis' strong suit by a country mile. Jean loves Scott but is attracted to Logan but can never break Scott's trust because he sticks by her. Logan knows he can never have Jean but pursues her anyway. Rogue and Bobby are in the throes of young love, barely able to control themselves and in Rogue's case this is actually dangerous. Striker regards his son as so abhorrent he cannot regard him as anything but a genetic machine any more, and so all of mutantkind become "its" to him, not men or women. Mystique gets off on the thrill of being what other people want her to be. Mystique wants the same Constitutional rights as everybody else. And on and on. X2 is so rich in characterization--everyone has a plausible reason for being alive in that movie. The only sour note is James Marsden emoting at Patrick Stewart behind the visor: "JEAN! Don't do this...." Which reaches "Luke Skywalker when Darth tells him he's Luke's father" levels of not-credible overemoting that makes you--the viewer--uncomfortable at the time but gives you something to laugh about later.

But it's one off-note in a symphony that's only in its second act. The rest is completely solid and well-conceived American industrial moviemaking.