>>212044998
>>212041212
>>212041063
>>212052390
>>212052412
I saw X-Men 2 theatrically at the tender age of 11 and that was the first time I had to process the emotions a film put me through. It had adventure, it was sexy, the ending was bittersweet, there were much deeper meanings if you're looking for them. Those first two films stand far above most capeshit even from the period, with the exception of maybe Blade, Blade 2, and the first Raimi Spider-Man (2 was overly saccharine and 3 is...unique). I started reading the X-Men comics around the same time, which was when famed writer Chris Claremont returned. Plus both cartoons ('92 and Evolution) at the time were being rerun on Saturday mornings. Good times.
>>212044580
Romijn's Mystique is still the GOAT. Also, I you watch McKellen in another Bryan Singer film, Apt Pupil, I think you'll see why he was chosen to play Mags.

>>212048107
>>212047635
Apparently neither McKellen nor Stewart knew how to play chess and had to learn for those big scenes in the first two movies.