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Christian Hamaker (Crosswalk) is the film's most enthusiastic proponent: "Fans of the first two X-Men movies, both directed by Bryan Singer, worried when Brett Ratner (the Rush Hour movies, The Family Man) signed on to direct the third film, but Ratner hasn't embarrassed himself. Far from it, he successfully packs more characters into a film with a leaner running time than the first two films in the series—a positive development in an era of blockbuster films with bloated running times but skimpy scripts—while retaining a sense of wonder and fun in the storytelling. It all adds up to enjoyable, escapist entertainment."

Mainstream critics stand divided.

In this third episode, writes Andrew Coffin (World), "the series sinks into overblown, special-effects-laden silliness. This X-Men … also boosts the sexual content and bad language, making the film less appropriate for the teenage boys to whom it primarily caters."

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