The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau, takes a spin on the old classic and makes a classic of its own. The story follows Mowgli, a young boy living in the jungle, trying to find his way to the man village with the help from his animal friends, while trying to hide from the deadly tiger Sher Khan. This rendition of the book and to a larger extent, the Walt Disney animated film, is showing a tremendous amount of love to an already beloved story.
The major difference between this Jungle Book and the last one is that it is live action, which isn’t bad at all. This movie is downright gorgeous, given most of it is CGI, that makes it even more nice to look at. All the leafs on the trees pop with the brightest greens, the water sparkling with blues and greens. Your eyes won’t want to leave the screen.
With this film being live action it would be hard to get trained panthers and tigers and a whole bunch of exotic animals to do exactly what you want on camera. That’s why CGI is used perfectly. These animals look too real. You can almost feel every soft tuft of fur from Baloo’s back. The way each animal moves and talks feels so natural, even though it’s not natural for animals to speak, it just feels right.
Also the way the animals interact with Mowgli shows that they could be real animals too. It’s not personified in any way except the fact that they talk. His wolf family doesn’t stand up on two legs and gives him a hug, they stay on all fours and rest their head on him to show affection.
The way each animal on screen moves is so true to the wild. The certain characters that really stood out in that aspect are Baloo and Sher Khan. Baloo the bear moves so carefree and slow like a bear in the wild would. He wobbles and sways when he walks or runs in the lazy way a bear would. Sher Khan moves very smoothly and menacingly, like he’s ready to pounce at any second. Those are just a few examples of how well the CGI was animated.
There are intense and emotional action scenes thrown in that give a cool reimagined look at the way the scenes were in the old animated film. Seeing Mowgli run for his life will keep you on the edge of your seat. Watching two big cats duke it out in such a realistic way will have you sitting stiff in anticipation. It’ll make you feel scared for the outcome. The children in the audience will remember those parts for sure.
The casting is almost flawless. The best example is Bill Murray as Baloo. How much better can Bill Murray as the voice of Baloo get? Murray captures Baloo’s love of life in such a way it make you genuinely grin. He gives everyone the happiest feeling and there’s no denying it. Murray is funny and lovable just like the character he plays.
This movie is very aware of it’s previous installments. Some of the favorite songs from the original cartoon are back and bound to give audiences nostalgia for their childhoods. You’ll be humming “Bear Necessities” out the theater and all the way home.
The only small problem people may have is the actor who plays Mowgli, Neel Sethi. He does great throughout the majority of the movie, but sometimes it seems like he’s having trouble figuring out where to look. Almost all the animals are CGI or puppets animated over, so it’s understandable for a new child actor struggling to look at something that isn’t there. It just could be a little distracting for some audiences watching.
Of course this movie is catering to the kids, but Disney didn’t forget about the parents. The appeal to adults with it’s powerful, intense scenes are definitely there. Also the allusions to the classic cartoon will give the parents a never ending smile. It’s also very fun, colorful and hilarious for kids, making it a classic for their own memories to come.
