Directed by : Jon Favreau
Written by : Justin Marks
Starring : Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Christopher Walken
Release Date : April 7, 2016
I feel like I have to be upfront about this, but I don't think I liked this 2016 version of "The Jungle Book" as much as the animated version from 1967. This newer adaptation is not a bad movie per se, but I couldn't find myself emotionally invested in the story as I thought I should have. The general plot is already rather predictably familiar as it is, and felt like it was just going through the motions of just needing to hit certain story beats. There are several exciting action chase sequences throughout, and there are some enjoyable lighthearted scenes (mostly involving Baloo), but this movie was also surprisingly more earnest and darker in tone.
While the fact that the story was more straightforward than I would have preferred, the characters managed to successfully keep me invested in this movie anyway. In part it's because of the strong voice cast. Bill Murray seems perfect providing the majority of the comedic relief as the sloth bear Baloo, although the way they integrated "The Bear Necessities" song felt halfhearted to me. Christopher Walken was fantastic as the gigantophitecus orangutan, but the way they segue into having him sing "I Wanna Be Like You" felt surprisingly unnecessary. Idris Elba as Shere Khan is perfectly scary and menacing, and gave us a very strong cinematic villain for this story. Neel Sethi as Mowgli is good enough for the role I suppose, considering he was predominantly acting in front of green screens and imaginary animals.
The main attraction to this movie is undoubtedly the special effects. Shot predominantly in a Los Angeles warehouse, the whole beautiful jungle that you see in this movie was pulled off via CGI; which can be hard to believe because it looks so good. This visual marvel is simply arresting to your eyes, from the rain slicked jungle to the realistic looking animals. Speaking of which, there is an uncanny valley of seeing the animals in the movie talk in a language we understand, with some facial reactions that can look a little off at times. Despite a few issues, the visuals is pretty much the real reason to see this movie.
Although I'm not giving "The Jungle Book" a high praise of recommendation, there are a lot of things to like about it. The thematic story arc for Mowgli may have been a little too on the nose, but the movie's take on the character is really not bad at all.
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