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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

X-Men
20th Century Fox Film Corp.


7.6

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 26 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sci-fi action violence

Starring Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackson, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, and Famke Janssen

Dr. Charles Xavier gathers children from all over the planet who were born with an added twist to their genetic code. Known as the "X-factor" these children can perform extraordinary feats. Dr. Xavier calls them his X-Men.

GENRE(S):	Sci-fi
WRITTEN BY:	Tom DeSanto (story) Bryan Singer (story) David Hayter
DIRECTED BY:	Bryan Singer
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 21, 2000 Video: November 21, 2000 Theatrical: July 14, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	104 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Slate David Edelstein

It's a rich, impressive comic-book fantasy -- easily the summer's best "blockbuster."

Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark

The best kind of summer blockbuster -- the kind that makes you immediately crave a sequel.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

The film's strength and its entertainment lie in John Myhre's production design, its generally appealing cast...and, perhaps most importantly, a canny degree of self-parody.

Newsweek Jeff Giles

For diehard fans, X-Men is full of in jokes and sly references -- For everybody else, there's the thrill of the unknown.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Balances brains, brawn and heart in ideal proportions. The actors - some first-rate, all enjoyable - never get overshadowed by the special effects, which dazzle us without gory excess.

TNT RoughCut J. Rentilly

One of this year's most dazzling entertainments, not to mention one of the best comic-book movies ever made.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Singer deftly crafts a sleek, unusually tight film that balances comic-book adventure, pulp opera and the fear of being different.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

When it comes to stoopid fun, X-Men could be the summer movie to beat.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

While X-Men doesn't take your breath away wire-to-wire the way "The Matrix" did, it's an accomplished piece of work with considerable pulp watchability to it.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Exciting mainly because anything can happen and does, the movie drags a bit as it approaches a climax set atop the Statue of Liberty.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

A distinctively absorbing entertainment, offering just enough popcorn thrills for mass audiences and just enough chewiness for hardcore sci-fi fans.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Spectacular special effects and sets.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Doesn't match up against the new millennium martial artistry of "The Matrix," nor do the special effects - but he knows how to establish characters and relationships.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

This feast of fantasy is worth it.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

X-Men flies to the rescue with superheroes who have real substance.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Loaded with fine performances, traffics in audacious images and generally comports itself with a great deal more grace and gravitas than most movies with roots in fantastic themes.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

A solid action story with inventive battles (one on the Statue of Liberty) and satisfyingly gooey special effects.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The most enjoyable piece of pop fantasy of the summer; sleek, elegant, exciting and wildly, outrageously imaginative.

Film.com Robert Horton

Nearly the perfect balance between straight-faced pulp action and amused wonder at the outlandish world of comic books.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

The film's greatest strength lies in its ability to view itself as a modern moral fable of sorts.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

I started out liking this movie, while waiting for something really interesting to happen. When nothing did, I still didn't dislike it; I assume the X-Men will further develop their personalities if there is a sequel.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Recedes to a string of mere action exploits. These are proficiently executed but, for all their visual authority, not much more than routine.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

A mixed bag with the promise of a better sequel.

TV Guide Steve Simels

Stylish, exciting and an occasionally poignant sci-fi adventure spectacle.

Variety Dennis Harvey

Plays like a so-so middle chapter of an epic series rather than a fitting kickoff.

USA Today Andy Seiler

Missing are well-choreographed action scenes, likable characters and involving plot twists.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The mood is awfully dark for an escapist fantasy, though, and the high-tech mayhem gets repetitious.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

A very odd cinematic creature.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

When the film version isn't assaulting you with gizmos, it's an awkward, depersonalized piece of hackwork.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Clumsy when it should be light on its feet, the movie takes itself even more seriously than the comic book and its fans do, which is a superheroic achievement.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Superhero comic book movie with a script so feeble it might have been written with crayons.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

An ambitious, frustrating drag.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Isn't juvenile, it isn't even infantile. It's prenatal!

The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 26 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jerk Guy gave it a1:
This film wasn’t great at all it was garbage, pure garbage, a massive disappointment, they changed so much and left out so much that I don’t even regard it as an X-Men film, story or whatever you want to call it. I’ll give the film a 1 for the casting since it was on a general note really good except for Ian McKellen as Magneto, Magneto is meant to be intimidating, and Ian McKellen just looked like a senile old man that escaped from his old folks home in that costume. This film is really crap whether you’re a massive X-Men fan like me or if you’re discovering X-Men for the first time. Just off the top of my head I could take any great X-Men saga and it would have made a better film, i.e. A great first X-Men film would have been better done around the President Kelly assassination plot; this would have involved a mutant from the future named Bishop going back in time to our present day to prevent a mystery mutant from assassinating President Kelly thus causing the war between humans and mutants. This would have worked really well because you could have introduced all the X-Men characters to new comers through Bishop meeting and becoming an X-Men, it would have firmly established the tensions between man and mutant, it would have established there is good and bad mutants, and above all else it would have made more sense then just Magneto wanting to kill all humans with some stupid aura thing.

Manveer R. gave it an8:
Great movie and great action!

[Anonymous] gave it an8:
The Spiderman films are the modern crown jewels of the Marvel films, but this X-men stuff, it's not bad. Deals a lot with prejudice and minorities, and issues of such (starts off in WW2, for heaven's sake). THe action's decent, but I yearned for Yuen Mo Ping's choreography (The Matrix, Crouching tiger hidden dragon). Not bad at all.

Andrew M gave it an 8:
The earnestness of Spiderman didn't convince me, but the same feel applied to X-Men is much more effective. It's the type of comic storyline that is suited by such a style and atmosphere. Here we are not just reading or watching a comic and its' characters, but it's happening to us, we experience it, and the plot and writing support that all the way. It also strikes a great balance throughout, in the action, the drama, the humour, and everything in between. Great filmmaking, casting and acting - it's a very immersing experience.

Yoon Min C. gave it a 3:
Ridiculous superhero material rendered almost unbearable thru solemn, cheerless approach. we are asked to take its cartoonish contrivances seriously. it even throws in a little holocaust to lend it extra weight. now, we knows nazis weren't only responsible for war and genocide but crazy jewish scientists. heroes are hard to tell apart from the villains as how do you morally differentiate among lethally gadgeted freaks? but, the dude with the frog tongue is bad, i think.

Matthew L. gave it a 10:
Excellent.

Dave C. gave it a 4:
Next to Blade and Daredevil, this is one of the worst of the Marvel films, characters are wooden, stereotypical and boring, the plot is crap and it's just too short. The film, even by its own standard, feels incomplete. It's more like the first episode of a TV series than an actual full length move. Go and see Spiderman or the Hulk instead.

X-Men 20th Century Fox Film Corp.

X-Men
20th Century Fox Film Corp.