X-Men

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Comic-book adaptation has brains, brawn, and style.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

Find out more

Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

Find out more

Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie involves a great deal of comic-book violence executed with near-bloodless restraint but, at the same time, visceral efficiency. One character is a Holocaust survivor; there's much discussion about tolerance and hatred and prejudice, all in the film's fictional context of "mutants" with special abilities appearing in the human population -- and yet, this might provide a great conversation-starter for families.

  • The film's messages -- that peaceful co-existence is preferable to conflict, that tolerance is preferable to prejudice, that being different is not in any way bad -- are intrinsic to the film's plot and themes.
  • Not only are the heroic characters stalwart, strong and morally upright, but even the ostensible villains of the piece have a certain point to make; X-Men creator Stan Lee has often put forward that the dynamic between the leaders of the opposite sides of the X-Men mythos was inspired by Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, and that dynamic remains in the film.
  • Largely bloodless violence, some of which involves good old-fashioned fisticuffs and stabbing, some of which involves superhuman abilities like a control of magnetism or the weather, or shooting force-beams from one's eyes. Many of the characters have invulnerability or fast-healing abilities that make their injuries sustainable. A young girl is stabbed accidentally by razor-sharp claws, but her abilities enable her to heal from her wounds. Scary, intense medical imagery. A human being liquefies.
  • Some kissing; a blue-skinned, scaled mutant shape-shifter is, essentially, walking about naked, albeit covered by scales and cartilage that make her slightly modest.
  • Light strong language, including "balls," "dick," "God," "damn," and "hell." A variation on the finger is given.
  • Some light product placement (Oakley Sunglasses, Mazda), but no mentions of brands.
  • A character smokes cigars -- and is admonished for doing so. Beer and hard liquor are drunk.

What's the story?

In a near future, genetic anomalies -- mutants -- have begun appearing in the human population, some with extraordinary abilities (quick healing, telekinesis) and some with physical abnormalities; humanity's response mixes empathy and fear. These "mutants" are, after all, our children and brothers and sisters -- but their extraordinary abilities are powerful and intimidating. Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) heads a school dedicated to helping mutants, including an action team called the X-Men who deal with extraordinary threats from other mutants; on the other side of the philosophical coin, Professor Xavier's old friend -- a metal-controlling mutant known as Magneto (Ian McKellen) -- is generating a terrorist plot to make the "mutant problem" a concern for the leaders of the world in a way they never expected, with one of Professor Xavier's new charges an intrinsic part of his plan.


Is it any good?

 

Directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil), X-Men is an unerringly smart comic-book adaptation that plumbs its source material for real relevance and deeper meaning while still delivering all the biff-bam-pow action a comic book fan could want -- as well as serving as the launching pad that made Hugh Jackman a star with his work as the feral-but-stalwart Canadian mutant, Wolverine. Some of the dialogue is a bit laughable -- and Halle Berry, as the weather-controlling hero Storm, doesn't do much to help with that when she's on-screen -- but the effects are top-notch, the script is smart, and the tone of the film is pitch-perfect, giving us characters with unreal abilities at conflict in a very real world.

 

 

Launching a four-film franchise (with more, possibly, to come), X-Men is perhaps one of the best super-hero comic book adaptation, in part because it doesn't shy away from the big issues the comic explored, however clumsily, but instead embraces them. McKellen and Stewart are perfectly cast, and the remainder of the actors (with the exception of the seemingly-reluctant Berry) are all excellent. A super-hero film with real ambition and true talent can be very rare in Hollywood; X-Men is, alongside The Dark Knight and the first two Spider-Man films, one of the highlights in the modern exploration of the sub-genre.


Sign Up Message
Sign up for our weekly newsletter
Each week we send a customized newsletter to our parent and teen subscribers. Parents can customize their settings to receive recommendations and parent tips based on their kids’ ages. Teens receive a version just for them with the latest reviews and top picks for movies, video games, apps, music, books, and more.
Please enter an email address.
Please check your email address for possible typos.
Sorry, you must be 13 or older to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Sign me up!

What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about the film's allegorical relationship to everything from Civil Rights to apartheid, as well as the film's metaphors for acceptance, tolerance, and understanding.

  • Families can also talk about how often, fantasy and science-fiction are ways to talk about tough real-world issues; does the acceptance of the unreal make it easier to discuss the real?

  • Families can also talk about the popularity of super-hero stories -- what need in the audience do they meet? Are they simple fun, or can they be considered seriously as part of what pop culture says about who we are?


This review was written by James Rocchi
Teen, 14 years old
September 28, 2009
 
Iffy for small children
I saw the movie with my 9 year old sister. It was slightly violent with mild flirtly behavior between Jean and Logan. It was a well done movie special effects wise. The H word was mentioned several times. I wish there was more Kitty because she is sooooo awesome.

Flag as inappropriate 
Adult
October 31, 2010
 
evolution at it's finest :P
There is Mystique, the blue naked lady with scales (which doesn't really surprise me because a lot of comics and kid cartoons contain close-to-full nude characters). There is a lot of violence. There's swearing. But what was most annoying is that (yeah, the other stuff was irritating and bad, too,but) the whole thing is just one big anti-God, evolution scheme.....

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 10 years old
December 5, 2009
 

Flag as inappropriate 
Parent
March 2, 2010
 
X-Men
A spectacular movie thats pumped full of action. The kids will love it.

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 14 years old
January 5, 2010
 
a great movie for younger x-men fans but there is sime language

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 11 years old
July 16, 2011
 
Worst X-Men
This is movie that i could probably see when i was 7. Not bad at all. The graphics were from 2000 when i was born so don't expect anything great. A good movie but horrible Graphics that you would expect from a movie made in 2000

Flag as inappropriate 
Parent of 11 year old
January 31, 2011
 
Good Movie
10+. Language is okay. Still strong. There is some passionate kissing and a full nude woman walking around. She is mainly covered in scales though. Lots of violence and I'm not so thrilled with the drug usage.

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 13 years old
May 1, 2010
 
Perfect for tweens but not for younger kids
I really liked this movie, but I think that it would not be appropriate for people under 10. There was lots of violence and scary scenes in which people almost die.

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 11 years old
June 4, 2011
 
X-Men
This comic book adaption was slow at first, but picked up as it went. Logan (Wolverine) risked his life to save Marie (Rouge). Though Eric (Magneto) believes that mutants will go to war with humans. Tons of superhero violence. Mystique is a woman who can change shape into other people, but if not is shown in blue scaly skin (naked, although all you can see is outlines). I only recommend kids with large attention spans watch this.

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 15 years old
October 1, 2009
 
A good movie for young kids with plenty of action and not much swearing, no sex references, no drugs and drinking and no blood or scary scenes. Good for fans of the comics or those who love superheores.

Flag as inappropriate 

This review was written by James Rocchi
Topics:superheroes
Studio:Twentieth Century Fox
Director:Bryan Singer
Cast:Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart
Genre:Science Fiction
Run time:104 minutes
Theatrical release date:July 14, 2000
DVD release date:February 7, 2006
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:sci-fi action violence.

This review was written by James Rocchi
 

Review It

Share your review with others

Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.
About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

Great alternatives handpicked by our editors

 

vote now

Will you see X-Men?


Already seen it? What do you think?

 

Been There? Tell us about it