I never quite got the hang of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise. Things went swimmingly for two films, then there was a disappointing third, a terrible spin-off, then a 1960s-set reboot or prequel. I was never quite sure which one X-Men: First Class was supposed to be, since it honestly failed at being either. Days of Future Past managed to muddy the waters even further, leaving audience with this: 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse. There are some decent performances here, and some stand-out visual effects sequences. It entertains in fits and starts, but mostly just feels confusing. It is strange to see that it was directed by Bryan Singer, since he already introduced many of this characters back in X-Men (2000) and X-Men 2 (20020, and largely did a better job back then.

Apocalypse picks up in 1983. Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is in hiding, Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is roaming Europe as a pro-mutant terrorist, and Charles (James McAvoy) and Hank (Nicholas Hoult) continue to develop their secret mutant school in Westchester. When mad cultists revive a 5,000-year-old super mutant (Oscar Isaac) from captivity, the entire world is threatened by his renewed grab for power.

Or something like that. This iteration of the franchise seems particularly over-crowded, throwing in popular X-Men characters like Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Angel (Ben Hardy), Moira McTaggart (Rose Byrne), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Havok (Lucas Till), Jubilee (Lana Condor), and Stryker (Josh Helman). There are probably more among the additional cameos that I’ve overlooked. Even with a 144-minute running time, there simply is not enough space in the narrative to properly feature each one. A few key players – Storm and Psylocke come to mind – have little to do but stand around looking menacing until the climax.

Much of the film is spent either reminding and recalling previous events in other films, or foreshadowing events that are due to happen in a future sequel. The sheer quantity of character threads fracture the film’s structure, turning much of it into a weirdly unsatisfying mess. Some scenes fall flat. Some simply don’t make sense: what exactly are Apocalypse’s powers? Some are actively insulting: Magneto using his powers to level the Auschwitz prison camp is actively offensive, making escapist entertainment out of real-world tragedy.

The better aspects of the film come in fits and starts. Several of the new characters are good. Kodi Smit-McPhee does a marvellous Nightcrawler. A stunning rescue sequence has Quicksilver evacuate the entire population of a building at super-speed. Visually it is all rather slick and shiny, albeit heavily dominated by CGI.

This is the kind of movie that gets better over repeat viewings, since the viewer can get used to the lesser parts while focusing on the greater. It only ever gets watchable, however, and even if you specifically want to watch an X-Men film, there are much better options available. In all honesty, watching Logan for the fifth time is going to more enjoyable than watching Apocalypse once.