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Captain America
The Quality of Mercy: A Brief Examination of (Post) Human Relationships in X-2: X-Men United

by Barb Lien-Cooper

June 2003

It's hard to say anything of importance about the sequel to 2000's movie about the X-Men, beyond what you've already heard. Yes, it's a great film, with truly astounding special effects. Yes, it actually is a better, more exciting, and deeper film than the first one. Yes, the introduction of Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler) to the cast of characters is inspired. It feels as if the character stepped out of the pages of the comic book itself. Nightcrawler steals just about every scene he's in, to tell the truth. Yes, Wolverine is heavily featured in the film, to its benefit. Yes, there are interesting little cameos from mutants not seen in the previous film (I won't spoil the fun by pointing out who showed up). Yes, there are references to the Marvel Universe all over the place. And, yes, the cliffhanger is a killer that almost guarantees a fascinating sequel at some point in the future.

I don't want tell you a single detail of the plot because to do so would spoil the surprises in store for the viewer.

So, what's left to say? Well, let's talk about the acting. While it was quite good in the first film, the performances are excellent here. Sir Ian McKellen deserves special kudos for his sly, knowing performance as Magneto. There are moments where you just want to cheer for him, as amoral and up-to-his-own-agenda as he is. But, the whole cast is good-to-great. Hugh Jackman is his wonderful acting self in the film, of course. I was a little sad that he didn't get quite as many hilarious lines as the last time, but as an anti-hero, Jackman's version of Wolverine brings a quite beloved character to vivid life. I was a little sorry that Patrick Stewart had less to do in this film than he did in the prior one, but he always brings a warmth and humanity to Professor Charles Xavier that the character needs to be believable to the audience. You really believe that this character is a peaceful warrior, fighting for the rights of all instead of just the rights of his people. Halle Berry as Storm does get more to do in this film, which I'm thankful for, as she's a good actress who had very few good scenes in the first film. She brings a certain intelligence, chemistry, and empathy to her budding friendship with Nightcrawler that really kind of makes you feel good inside to see.

However, I think the most interesting part of the film was the new depth to the relationships in the film, especially between the characters of Mystique and Magneto. Now when I say "relationship", I'm not talking about a romance, obviously. There's a certain admirable gay-rights-as-a-template-for-mutant-rights subtext to this film that precludes any suggestion that Magneto and Mystique are headed for couplehood. Without spoiling the film's plot for you, the most obvious gay/mutant parallel is the painful yet funny scene where young Bobby (Iceman) is forced to come out of the mutant closet to his parents. Perhaps not so obviously, there's something in Ian McKellen's performance that suggests a slightly flamboyant but still realistically rendered gay male, as opposed to a Hollywood stereotype of a gay man. Yes, I know that Magneto in the X-Men comics is a straight man, with children to prove it. I just find it hard to look at Sir Ian's performance and see the Magneto of the film as being that way. Mind you, Sir Ian is a brilliant actor and has played straight men brilliantly (c.f. his John Profumo in the British film Scandal), so I have to think his acting choices in the X-Men films are deliberate and directly related to how he views the thematic concerns of the X-Men films (c.f. the comments that he made in a recent Actor's Studio interview about the first film).

To me, the non-romantic context of the relationship between Magneto and Mystique makes it even more fascinating than a romantic one would be. Mystique shows Magneto a loyalty and devotion that is almost animal-like (sometimes her movements remind me of an abused but magnificent beast that's finally found a companion who doesn't treat her with cruelty). Yet she is also his equal on a mental level. Magneto, in return, treats Mystique with a casual but sincere kindness that suggests that he accepts her for exactly who and what she is. There is a kind of non-romantic love here that is based on mutual respect and mutual knowledge of each other's foibles that is actually more real and more touching than the heterosexual relationships in the movie.

There's an inter-dependence between them that's also quite remarkable. We see at the start of the film that Mystique has gone to some pretty extreme measures to seek out where Magneto is imprisoned because she is extremely worried about her friend's treatment at human hands (she has every right to be). She nearly lets the shape-shifting disguise she's wearing slip when she (as a he — you'll see what I mean later) calls Magneto by his given name in front of a bunch of government officials that only call Magneto by his criminal alias. It's a small but beautiful touch that Mystique doesn't seem to ever call Magneto by anything but his given name in the film. Without giving too much away, Magneto has every faith that Mystique will break him out of prison. He's pleased but not surprised when she manages to finally give him the materials that are of use to him in re-gaining his liberty.

Mystique is Magneto's go-fer and his Girl Friday, but it isn't just a boss-underling relationship. They share jokes together, they whisper together, and they make fun of the X-Men together. There's a scene on an airplane filled with X-Men who don't completely trust the two mutants that I found to be very interesting. The two mutants' body language shows how they've closed ranks against Xavier's X-Men and their beliefs (who, in return, eye the two with an understandable degree of distrust). Magneto and Mystique make no attempts to integrate themselves in the mutant mainstream or to ingratiate themselves to the X-Men (they'd find such a suggestion to be a type of insult, I would think). For instance, they make terrible fun of Rogue, the girl they tried to kill in the last movie. Their cattiness is unsettling, yet psychologically valid. They're in Xavier's court most of the film, confronted with values and attitudes they don't share (attitudes they consider naive and playing into human hands, as a matter of fact). While powerful mutants, Magneto and Mystique are psychologically outnumbered, so to hold on to who they are and what they believe, they hold on especially tight to their friendship, in a way that keeps others out. It's sad that they use their friendship to keep out other points of view from theirs, but on the positive side, it also shows that a deep friendship with one who believes in you can strengthen your identity and belief in yourself even in the face of those who don't agree with you.

I also find the relationship between Mystique and Magneto to be of interest because here are two post-humans that have no use for humanity, yet they act terribly human, in ways both good and bad. Both characters have been so harshly treated by humans that they'd just as soon see all humanity go the way of the dodo bird and the carrier pigeon than to attempt to reach out to humans in friendship. Magneto sees a post-human world as a better one than the one he lives in now. And, the kindness and compassion that Magneto shows Mystique makes one wonder, albeit briefly, if the two have a point about humanity. Certainly the mutants have more of the quality of mercy than any of the human population. Yet, Magneto and Mystique's insistence that humans have no worth because many have treated humans badly makes them as barbaric in their way as the humans they hate. But, even with this streak of ruthlessness in their worldview, they still are affectionate and loyal to each other. Yes, Magneto and Mystique are villains, ultimately, but this combination of good and evil makes them the most well thought out, interesting, and (oh, that word!) human characters in the film.

Having said that, the relationship between Storm and Nightcrawler is nearly as touching. There's a part of Nightcrawler that takes all the hurt inside and blames himself for the pain others cause him. In Storm, there's someone who is still angry at society's prejudice towards her kind (both in terms of race and mutant genes), but she also has an ability to rise above this anger so as to show sweetness and empathy towards a fellow mutant desperately in need of the milk of post-human kindness. Both Magneto and Storm treat these damaged souls with compassion and affection. And both Nightcrawler and Mystique blossom in the face of this sympathy. We see a trust develop between Storm and Nightcrawler. The trust was always there between Magneto and Mystique, but we now understand more about why the two trust each other.

There's compassion towards those hurt by mainstream society in both the Magneto/Mystique friendship and the one between Storm and Nightcrawler. Both Nightcrawler and Mystique, in their way, are characters damaged by prejudice. Nightcrawler responds with forgiveness, while Mystique responds with distrust and a need for vengeance.

Nightcrawler's journey of self-discovery is quite interesting, as he does change a bit over the course of the film. Nightcrawler in the film is a good Catholic, as he is in the comic books. He truly embodies the type of virtues that Bill Bennett and the right wing Christians are always talking about. Yet, he also embodies unconditional love and forgiveness, two Christian qualities that some conservative political Christians seem to have forgotten. So, we have a case of a being who truly embodies the Christian ideals of love, compassion, and goodness, being persecuted, but responding with love. But, interestingly enough, by the end of the film Nightcrawler learns that forgiveness and being a good, compassionate (post) human doesn't mean he should let others walk all over him like the worm he shares his superhero name with. He learns that good people need boundaries and need to like themselves no matter what prejudiced people may say. He also learns the power of belonging to a group that truly believes in the cause of equal rights for all. There's a bit more steel in Nightcrawler's spine by the end of the film, but he never strays away from his basic love for all and compassion for all.

Obviously, there are plenty of other relationships in the film. We see romantic entanglements between Wolverine and Jean Grey, Cyclops and Jean, Rogue and Iceman, etc. in the film, for instance. But the Magneto/Mystique and Nightcrawler/Storm relationships are the ones drawn with the most delicate brush. In these relationships, we see a theme that tolerance, love, and understanding can make all the difference in a person's life, no matter what their sexual orientation, skin color (both Mystique and Nightcrawler are blue skinned), or status as the "other" in society may be.

Without preaching, this film advocates the ways of love, compassion, and tolerance, showing the importance of always fighting for equal rights for everyone, as well as a belief in the intrinsic worth of all human (and post-human) life.

Because of its themes and the sensitivity with which they're handled, X-Men United may be the best film of the year.

And the action sequences are top-notch, the fight scenes are breath-taking, the special effects are A-One. And things blow up real good.

What more could you want from a movie?

PS — I guess I had something important to say about this film after all.

PPS — Next, the themes of existential freedom in Matrix: Reloaded???