The old version spell caster animations had a bit more variety to them, and I don't think it looked weird at all to wield a staff with 2 hands. I miss the old animations.

The ready stance with a two-handed weapon:


Casting with a two-handed weapon:


Two-handed swinging the staff magic attack -- this was one of my favorites as Thaumaturge:


Two-handed weapon with a one-handed attack animation: