Metacritic reviews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A very odd cinematic creature.

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

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