Meanwhile, Wolverine finds the base that is in his memories, but it's an empty ruin near a dam & he returns to The Xavier School. And before he arrives, we see the students on a field trip to a museum where Iceman & Pyro almost get the group in trouble before Prof. X intervenes. Then, later that night, Wolverine arrives. The tension between him, Scott (Cyclops) & Jean resurfaces. But not much time for that, Prof. X & Scott go to visit Magneto & Storm & Jean are assigned to find the mutant that attacked The White House after being located by Cerebro. What they do not know, a former military leader, Stryker, has gone before the President & gives the green light for an assault on the X-Men Mansion. But, Mystique, disguised as Senator Kelly learns of the plan & where Magneto is held & plans his escape.

Later that fateful night, Wolverine awakens from the nightmarish visions that have plagued him & he wanders the mansion, finally beginning to bond a bit with Bobby in the kitchen..... then figures out, they are under attack! Well, this is what I have waited to see, Wolverine unleashed! Almost too fast to keep up with, Wolverine tears into the invaders with both sets of claws, an X-Fan's dream! Some of the children are captured but most escape thanks to Wolverine & the older mutants. But, in a blinding moment, Logan comes face-to-face with Stryker, who knows Wolverine & his secrets. But, he is denied as Bobby puts up a wall of ice & Rogue begs him to help them escape. And comming up in the garage they do, of course in Scott's brand new car! They make for Boston where Storm & Jean are & Bobby's hometown.

Back in DC, Scott & Prof. X visit Magneto but.... it's a trap! The most powerful mutant in the world is captured! Scott mixes it up with Lady Deathstrike but looses & Prof. X is now in the hands of his enemies.

In Boston on Storm & Jean's mission for the teleporting mutant assassin, they find an abandoned church with a frightened mutant that should be well-known to all X-Fans, Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler. He tells them of how he couldn't remember anything since the Berlin circus (he was a circus performer, an acrobat & high-wire artist, in the comics anyway) until he attacked the President against his will, then he escaped to the church. They take them with him & in flight discover no one is answering from the X-Mansion.

Later, Mystique learns where Magneto is held & brilliantly sets up a plan to free him from his plastic prison. It's one fantastic escape that I would have never imagined & it has to be one of the best moments in the film. Brian Singer & the writers should be lauded for incredible imagination & understanding of the characters' abilities.

Back in another part of Boston, Wolverine, Rogue, Iceman & Pyro meet Bobby's parents & brother whom learn the truth about The Xavier School. Finally, Storm is able to reach Wolverine on a car phone they found in Cyclops' car. He tells them about the school attack & to pick them up quick. Bobby's brother finks on them to the police & a wild confrontation with a bullet in the head & exploding police cars tears apart Bobby's quiet neighborhood. The Blackbird arrives & a quick escape is made by the X-Men.

Then, the real battle for the future of humans & mutants begins. Well, I don't want to give away much more. Everyone gives 110 percent in this movie. Every performance is great, the new villain Stryker is a bigger threat that brings both the X-Men & The Brotherhood of Mutants together. The new characters of Nightcrawler, beefed-up versions of Iceman, Pyro & Mystique (who I liked much better in this movie) & the addition of Lady Deathstrike as a foil for Wolverine, really sometime to see! The story's better, the action more intense & the SFX are just damned amazing.

And to the complaint dept.: Only a few seconds of Colossus, The Beast was only as Dr. Hank McCoy on TV & not an X-Men & there had been rumours of other villains showing up (but to be fair, in the original stories, Rogue & Pyro were introduced as in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants back in the '80s). Other than that & that's a fanboy complaint, it was a perfect 5 out of 5...