So if you’re like the rest of the free world, you probably saw X-Men 2: X-Men United over the weekend. And if there is a cooler movie suffering from a lamer subtitle, I haven’t heard it.

Never the less, the movie most assuredly handed my ass to me and with a polite grin and a nod said, “See this? This is your ass. Thank you.”

Did you hear the story about X-2 being the 4th highest grossing opening of all time? $85 million in three days. Not too shabby.

Frankly, though, I’m not sure if this is something we need to celebrate. And, if you keep it within context, is not as big of an achievement as you may think.

X-2 had the advantage of the one of the largest roll-outs in Hollywood history. Over 93 countries simultaneously and nearly 3,800 screens in this country. Yet, it couldn’t break the figures of the three highest opening weekend earners Spider-Man and the first two Harry Potter movies.

In fact, X-2 did almost $30 LESS business than Spider-Man did at this same time last year. Incidentally, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets was the previous screen record holder with 3,682.

But forget the figures. What about the movie! Excellent on all counts and delivered right where it counts. I got to see a lot of the stuff I wanted to see versus the first movie which I always felt like it was on a short leash.

When the school is attacked and Colossus armors up from flesh to steel, it has got to be one of the most cathartic movie moments in recent memory. Even if it was only a fraction of a second – to see it sent chills up my spine.

Of course, if you couldn’t tell from today’s comic, I thought Nightcrawler stole the show. He’s gets the best effect sequence right at the start of the movie. I won’t spoil it, but it sets things off in a good direction.

I was a little disappointed that he wasn’t given much to do during the middle of the film. He only got his 10 minutes at the start and then was kept handy in the last 5. I wish they used him more.

Same for Iceman. It was if he only got to use his powers twice, and he never did the trick where he covers his whole body in ice. Maybe they’re saving that for X-3.

A really great moment in the movie is when Magneto escapes from prison. Again, I won’t spoil it, but it’s very clever. And anyone who is familiar with the comics will get the reference to what he does to the guard.

By the way, did anyone else notice that they stuck in Dr. Hank McCoy (AKA – The Beast) as a commentator on a TV talk show running in the background. Sweet!

Obviously I could go on and on, but I won’t. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, you’d better get moving. After all, The Matrix Reloaded is only two weeks away. We wouldn’t want you to fall behind!