GREAT X-PECTATIONS DIRECTOR BRYAN SINGER AND HIS CAST ROSE TO THE CHALLENGE OF MAKING 'X2' BIGGER THAN THE 2000 ORIGINAL.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer

For his sequel to ``X-Men,'' the movie that both revived the moribund superhero genre and kicked the long-sputtering Marvel Comics stable of characters into cinematic blockbuster territory, filmmaker Bryan Singer got just about everything he wanted.

Yet there's one thing that's driving the naturally intense director batty about ``X2: X-Men United.''

``That's not the title of the #(at)$%&! movie!'' the 37-year-old USC alum blurts. ``It's called 'X2.' Somebody better tell Fox. It's not 'X-squared' either, which was another advertising faux pas. I think that was a cruel joke, that maybe someone involved with the 'Alien' franchise would have another go at it.''

Sorry, Bryan, but the ``X-Men United'' addition is here to stay. We can understand your sensitivity to every little misstep, though. The production of ``X-Men'' three years ago was fraught with artistic frustrations, studio interference and a general lack of faith in the ability of its young helmer - who had proved adept at tricky, but smaller-scale, character-based projects such as ``The Usual Suspects'' and ``Apt Pupil'' - to handle the effects-laden, action-packed transfer of Marvel's most popular mutant heroes to the big screen.

But ``X-Men'' proved both a profitable summer hit and pleasing to the comics' rabid fans. It also sneaked in ideas - the superpowered mutants as a feared and repressed minority, metaphors for all manner of relationship, sexual and identity questions - that, while true to the Marvel Comics template Stan Lee created back in the early 1960s, had been noticeably absent from the preceding big run of comics-based movies, rival publisher DC's Superman and Batman series.

Due to all that, Singer got more time, resources and freedom to make ``X2'' exactly the way he wanted to.

``This is the picture that I would have made the first time, but couldn't have made without having made the first movie,'' Singer explains. ``I cut my teeth on the genre last time, found the characters and got most of the exposition out of the way.

``This was definitely a much smoother operation,'' the filmmaker adds. ``I think I felt more comfortable with the universe and the actors felt more comfortable with their characters. And we had a little more time and a little more money. And I personally made a conscious decision not to let the whole process stress me out as much as it did the first time. There was more riding on this, yet somehow it felt less since we already had a success with the first film, and knew that now we could actually have fun with this movie and make something really special that, hopefully, would take it to another level.''

Calling all mutants

``X2'' certainly does that. Every major character who survived the initial outing is back with more personality-defining scenes and crucial actions to perform.

Among the good mutants, these include wheelchair-using, superpsychic Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who runs the school for ``gifted'' youngsters that trains future X-Men to use their powers to help an often-antagonistic mankind; adult X-Men Storm (Halle Berry, in a white wig), who can control weather; Cyclops (James Marsden), whose eyes shoot out laserlike power blasts; and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), a telekinetic with ESP potential that may rival Xavier's own.

Also on the side of can't-we-all-just-get-along is troubled drifter Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who projects metal claws and berserker rage when in fighting mode; and teen trainees Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), whose name describes his power; the moody Pyro (Aaron Stanford), who does with fire what his buddy can with frost; and Rogue (Anna Paquin), capable of absorbing the power - and life force - of whomever she touches.

Also back are the self-justifying human-haters Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), whom the X-Men are forced to team with in order to stop a mutant-hating militarist, Stryker (Brian Cox), from wiping out their whole species.

All this, plus the introduction of comic book favorites Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) - a betailed, blue-skinned teletransporter with a German accent and a deep faith in God - and Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu), Stryker's turncoat mutant henchwoman with claws as deadly as anything Wolverine can sprout.

The film also makes plenty of room for budding romances, frustrated passions and a hilarious ``Mom, Dad, I'm a mutant'' confession that Singer describes as ``a coming-out scene that goes terribly, terribly, terribly wrong.''

But while he managed to squeeze a remarkable amount of character into the sequel, Singer was still obliged to deliver the action goods. ``X2'' is rife with jet dogfights, special forces assaults, an attack on the Oval Office and endless scrapes, escapes and close calls.

Filmed last summer in and around Vancouver, British Columbia (another nice change from the first ``X's'' Toronto-in-winter locale), the movie works up to multiple intense climaxes, not the least of which is an inevitable match between Wolverine and Deathstrike.

Claws for concern

``Not all of the claws were computer generated,'' notes Hu, the former Miss Teen USA turned karate black belt recently seen in ``The Scorpion King'' and ``Cradle 2 the Grave.'' ``They actually built some that they, basically, just Crazy Glued to the undersides of my nails. On those days, believe me, going to the bathroom was a challenge.''

So was getting gentlemanly Australian Jackman to look authentic, even under pretend conditions.

``He's so sweet that it was really hard for him to hit me,'' Hu reports. ``He didn't want to hit a girl. One part where he was supposed to slam me against a wall, he was so gentle with it that he just sort of picked me up and placed me against the wall. Bryan yelled, 'Cut!' ''

There's another side to that story.

``There aren't many people I've hit harder than I hit Kelly,'' Jackman says in defense of Aussie manhood. ``She kept taunting me, 'I'm a black belt! I can take it!' But there was one move where I had to turn blind and she was running full pelt right into my fist. I miscalculated when I turned around and, instead of hitting the padded part of her stomach, I clipped her straight in the breast. She wasn't too happy then; she didn't tell you about that one, did she?''

Cumming has no sympathy for his co-stars' travails. Not only did he have to undergo hours of predawn makeup application to play the tattooed and blue-hued Nightcrawler, he had to fight and swing on wires while dragging prosthetic tails of assorted consistencies, and governability, behind him.

``There was a whole tail miniseries,'' the Scottish actor cracks. ``There were different degrees of boinginess, and the worst one was really heavy and required this awful harness to keep on me. It had metal inside of it, and I'd be running along, turn around and the tail would whack someone in the head or take the sandwiches off the table. I said 'excuse me' a lot.''

Tough physical work notwithstanding, a good time was obviously had by all. But Singer's storytelling imperatives remained rigorous throughout - and will in future ``X-Men'' installments, which he is eager to make.

``As long as there are stories to tell and they're taken seriously, I think this universe can be explored for decades, as it has in the comic book,'' the filmmaker says. ``It's just when it becomes trivialized that it runs the risk of dying out. But 'X-Men,' more so than comic book universes based on individual heroes, has so many characters and they are so rich, that it has a lot of long-term potential.

``But it depends on how you treat it,'' Singer cautions. ``If you treat it episodic and basically tell the same story over and over again, it will die out. But if you treat it like a saga, if you really have one film give way to the next film and open up more myth and more character and more mystery, then it will continue like a good comic book.''

As for himself, Singer hopes to continue being the good filmmaker he started out as, even if he does keep working in the vision-compromising field of big-budget studio action franchises. If silly title addenda remains his biggest problem in that area, he'll have pretty well pulled off a remarkable mutation all his own.

``I've made small character pieces, but I enjoy the freedom it gives you to express yourself when you have all the resources and amazing artists of a big special-effects movie,'' he says. ``All of my movies have dealt with issues of identity, and here you have these subversive mutant revolutionaries hiding in a school for gifted youngsters.

``Ultimately, I think my goal has always been to do what some of my favorite filmmakers did in the 1970s: bridge the gap between the independent and the mainstream, to make my movies, my way, within the studio system. Particularly with this film, I feel I've been able to do that - and had a lot of enjoyment doing it.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Outta sight!

Cyclops and the rest of the super mutants return in `X2'

(2) Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) fends off attackers at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in ``X2: X-Men United.''

(3) Bryan Singer, ``X2's'' director, takes a stroll down the tube used by the film's characters. ``This is the picture that I would have made the first time,'' Singer says.