The law of diminishing returns states that sequels will always be inferior to the originals - - which clearly isn't true, as Aliens and The Empire Strikes Back prove. X-Men 2 is a further exception to that rule, director Bryan Singer himself stating that the first movie was merely a "trailer" for this deeper delve into Marvel Comics' mutant superhero team.

Despite expanding an already crowded cast, Singer manages to balance his attentions and keep things taut and pacey (only Halle Berry's Storm loses out), all the while delivering the kind of action set-pieces that X1 cried out for. But it's in the quieter, more dramatic moments that the sequel really gets under the skin, whether it's Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman) ongoing quest to uncover his background, the tense build-up to the X-mansion invasion, or the wonderful `coming-out' scene in which Iceman's (Shawn Ashmore) obtuse mom asks, ""Have you ever tried not being a mutant?""

DVD Extras:

With a production as grand as X2's, we've rightly come to expect the DVD release to be as comprehensive as possible. Well, this double-discer gets pretty close to living up to expectations, featuring extensive behind-the-scenes footage, visual-effects breakdowns, interviews with all the key players, commentaries and deleted scenes (including an ace, shouldn't-have-been-cut sequence showing Patrick Stewart's Professor X and Cyclops `escaping' from the dam). Much of it's comprised of the usual gushing-heads material (with a certain Ms Berry notable by her absence), but it's good to have Hugh Jackman's occasional quips and Alan Cumming's catty remarks about his make-up process to dispel the love-in. Even better, Singer and DoP Tom Sigel provide some jokey banter for their commentary (the better of the two on offer), culminating with an end-credits discussion on how X3 should really be a musical...