Recent Movie Roundup

The end of May meant it was time again to scramble to see some high-profile recent releases before they vanished from streaming. Here's a rundown of films I saw in recent weeks:

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016): I swear I watched this on HBO, but I can remember very little of it. The movie takes forever to get to its point and has precious few memorable moments or performances. I just couldn't remember hardly anything about it as soon as I watched it.  It's a shame that this current iteration of the X-Men, which started off with what I think is the best X-flick of them all, has deteriorated into such a dull experience.

Split (2016): M. Night Shamalamadingdong got his best reviews in years for this psychological thriller, but I had low expectations for it. I like James McAvoy, even when he is in disappointing X-Men movies, but I didn't think this would grab me. I started it and, lo and behold, I got wrapped up in it, and I attribute it to McAvoy's performance and, it must be said, some of those Shyamalan touches. OK, the obligatory self-cameo could have been left out, but other than that, the movie just works on a basic level.

After watching it, I read about controversy that the film "stigmatized mental illness." I do not have multiple personalities and don't wish to demonize those who do, but that criticism is absurd and serves as a classic example of people looking for reasons to be offended. Hopefully the controversy was not as widespread or intense as some sources may indicate.

If anything, people should have complained about Shyamalan casting himself as a security guard who loves Hooters.

The Jungle Book (2016): Can you believe this one is already leaving Netflix? It arrived late November 2016, and is leaving about 18 months later. It's more of a pay-cable window (Split and Apocalypse just left HBO) than the longer streaming window I usually expect. That's why I finally got around to seeing it. I won't say it shouldn't have taken me so long--hey, I have had plenty of other movies to not get around to seeing--but I enjoyed this a lot. It's the kind of movie about which people can use phrases like "visually sumptuous" and not annoy me.

The voice acting is excellent. Bill Murray might be the headliner, but Idris Elba is pure menace as Shere Khan. I like that the story gets in and out without overstaying its welcome. It hasn't lingered with me the way the old cartoon did, but things have a way of sticking with you when you're a little kid and not a jaded grouch. Jon Favreau's adaptation is solid entertainment that indicates this "turn all our animated classics into live-action" strategy might have some merit.