Bryan Singer directed three of the first five “X-Men” movies, not counting the Wolverine or Deadpool spin-offs. His work in the series has been, at the very least, entertaining and exciting, and at its best (2003’s “X2”), representative of the apex of the superhero genre. Singer’s take on the material has always put character and theme at the center, giving us interesting people grappling with issues that felt recognizable in the real world, and never at the expense of thrilling action or wildly imaginative set pieces.
With “X-Men: Apocalypse,” however, Singer seems to have acquired a new mutant power of his own: monotony.