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Bryan Singer returns to helm his fourth film in the X-Men series, and he hits another home run. This one picks up some number of years after the events of Days of Future Past, as an ancient all-powerful baddie named Apocalypse (played by Oscar Isaac, Poe from Star Wars: The Force Awakens) is accidentally resurrected in Egypt. To be honest, I don’t care for Apocalypse — he looks kinda stupid and his backstory (the first and worst five minutes of the movie) is lame. Isaac is swallowed up by the costume and has little to do.

But you know what? It doesn’t matter. Because despite its title, this movie isn’t about Apocalypse. He’s just another villain of the week. X-Men: Apocalypse is actually about bringing new students to Xavier’s School for the Gifted and beginning the X-Men team in earnest. And to that, I say hallelujah. Because fighting supernatural bad guys has never been what set X-Men apart. It’s about character. It’s about being strange and different, finding where you belong, and carving a niche for yourself in the world — no matter how big a freak you might be.

I knew Scott Summers and Jean Grey would be back in the franchise, but I didn’t know how prominently they’d be featured. Much to my delight, they are major players here. Tye Sheridan (Mud) and Sophie Turner (Sansa from Game of Thrones) pick up the roles admirably well. They have always been my two favorite characters (screw Wolverine; seriously), so this went a long way in rekindling my fondness for the series. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender headline the cast once again as Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, respectively. And some other returning faces are also wonderful to see again: Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, and Evan Peters as the scene-stealing Quicksilver. Terrific new additions to the roster include Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In), looking incredible as young Nightcrawler, Alexandra Shipp as young Storm, and Ben Hardy as Angel — a pretty boy with wings. And boy, that never hurts.

A film with so many characters and a considerable amount of backstory could easily collapse under itself, but screenwriter/producer Simon Kinberg does a remarkable job keeping the story focused, balanced, and meaningful. The third act threatens to become cliche, with a bunch of computer-generated destruction, but it quickly returns to what the X-Men have always been about — friends and family. Mostly the kind we make for ourselves, but this time there’s even a little blood relation thrown into the mix. What can I say? This stuff goes a long way with me.

The best thing I can say about X-Men: Apocalypse is that it has me wanting another X-Men movie.