Scene #17: Nightcrawler Attacks

This is the fourth entry in a series in which I'll countdown my 20 favorite scenes from the last 10 years in movies. To catch up more with the idea of this project, to see the other entries on the countdown, and to find out how you can contribute, click here.

This is the first of hopefully a few guest posts in this countdown. I have to admit, this scene didn't really come to mind when I was originally mapping this out, but I'm glad Alan Grimm (of The Great Movie Project) brought it up when I called for suggestions. Though you'll see he's not a fan (at all) of Bryan Singer's X2: X-Men United, I find it a nifty little superhero film that's poorly focused, but fun and refreshingly complex. He's definitely right about this scene, however, one of the most thrilling opening scenes of the last decade with mind-blowing special effects. Nightcrawler was a favorite of mine, and his disappearance in X3 was one of many reasons that movie sucked.

Check out the marvelous introduction to this shape-shifter, and below, read why Alan thinks so highly of this scene:



If you were like me, a fan of the "X-Men" comic series, you met the release of the films with a certain breathless anticipation. X-Men, while not totally sucking, didn’t deliver what it should have. It didn’t give us anything we’d normally ask for in a great comic book movie, and unlike the really good adaptation of fiction, it didn’t play out like the stories did in my head. The first sequel; however, did, even if for only a few minutes. Don’t get me wrong. X2 was a terrible film, although in the first ten minutes of the film, when you see it for the first time, it provided a level of special effects legerdemain that I don’t think we’ve seen since.

I’m talking about Nightcrawler: specifically, his assault on the president of the United States. Watching my favorite mutant smurf go rogue was, well, smurftastic. The CGI work as Nightcrawler teleports his way through the halls of the White House, takes out an entire team of Secret Service agents, and almost grassy-knolls the president is beautiful. When I watched X2 for the first time, I thought I was going to be in for an amazing ride. I was wrong, and my hopes were ruthlessly dashed by a more-or-less lackluster movie, but those first ten minutes or so are perfection.

I own the X2 DVD for this scene, and when John asked for our feedback, it was the first one that came to my head, because for me it not only is the most singular scene within that movie, it’s one of the best examples of special effects technology ever. Sorry, Avatar. I pull this out periodically just to watch Nightcrawler, who was never a major draw for me until this movie released. I was sorry to see him vanish into the mists of the third installment of the series.

—Alan Grimm, The Great Movie Project