X2 (2003)
I believe in the previous Reel to Reel, I mentioned being a megafan of the X-Men comics and movies when I was a kid. X2 was the first PG-13 movie my parents let me see in theaters, because they not only knew I needed to see it, but through my love of the property, they fell in love with these tortured characters for a different reason that my young mind didn’t comprehend at the time. With that being said, X2 was probably also the first of many movies we collectively cried at while in the theater. I’m a comfort movie watcher—I’ve seen X-MEN dozens of times, but I can probably count on one hand how many times I’ve seen its highly-anticipated sequel because of the devastating gut punch ending they left us with. The benefit, though, is that this viewing focused on Logan’s story can come from a fresh lens!
When we last left Logan (Hugh Jackman), he had left the X-Mansion in search of his past in Canada. We were given glimpses of his past throughout X-MEN, but all flashbacks led back to the experiment that left him with an adamantium skeleton and claws—and the excruciating pain that accompanied them. The first time we see him in the sequel, he’s walking up to the frozen remains of a building or structure. We don’t get to see what he does at the frozen structure, but when he gets back to the X-Mansion, he’s in highers spirits than the first time he arrived.
Rogue (Anna Paquin) greets him warmly while her boyfriend Bobby (Shawn Ashmore) introduces himself with a bit of territorial flair as he notices Rogue is very fond of the X-Mansion’s resident grump. Quickly, Logan’s attention is ensnared by Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). You can tell that he’s still crushing hard on her, but feels tortured about the fact that she is with Scott aka Cyclops (James Marsden).
Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Logan have a fun tit-for-tat relationship where they quip at each other any time they’re alone. Their reunion in this movie is no different with Xavier remarking on Logan’s cigar smoking in Cerebro. After putting the cigar out on his hand, Logan reveals he found the military base at Alkali Lake he sought, but needs Xavier’s help to see through his amnesia. Sadly, Logan’s mind has to heal itself as Xavier reveals he doesn’t believe he’d read any more than the location of the base he already visited.
As Logan dreams that night, he remembers more of the experimental procedure and we see William Styker (Brian Cox) standing over him, which has a mirroring moment not long after as Stryker launches his attack on the X-Mansion and Logan comes face-to-face with Stryker. Viewers can tell he craves knowing more of himself and his past, but Logan opts to save Rogue, Bobby, and their friend John (Aaron Stanford) after Rogue says they won’t survive without him.
As the X-Men descend upon Stryker’s base, Logan volunteers to go in first for their rescue mission thinking Stryker wouldn’t kill him. Magneto (Ian McKellen) sends Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) disguised as Logan instead as he believes she’s better equipped to handle the parameters of the mission, but Logan is able to act out his ulterior motive regardless, abandoning his mission to chase Stryker down on his own. With his back against the wall, Logan stands his ground and fights for those he cares about, which we see multiple times throughout this movie—in the X-Mansion during Stryker’s attack, in the base at Alkali Lake when he abandons his revenge quest against Stryker to save his friends, and we’ll see the ultimate example in the end to the original trilogy (X-MEN: THE LAST STAND).
This movie sees Logan’s biggest strides in character development when you look back between the first and second installments. We first met Logan as a lone wolf who kept people three claws’ length away, but at the end of X2, he’s not only sacrificed his own history, but is crying in the arms of his rival after Jean Grey has sacrificed himself to save their chosen family. I could go through and give a full rundown of the movie, but all roads lead to Logan finally accepting his new identity and family while embracing that he works best among his peers and can stop chasing the ghosts of his past. To finalize the thawing of his heart, we see him let Cyclops know that Jean chose Scott in the end, relenting and aware it would help Cyclops as much as it hurts himself—a final bow of self-sacrifice.
