The Jungle Book Review

Based off the classic animated Disney movie, Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book is not only stunning, but a great adventure and a worthy re-imagining of such a classic tale.

When the cast was announced I will admit that I was scratching my head. So many big named actors were voicing these iconic characters, and I couldn't help but think that it would detract from the movie itself.Then, I watched the movie, and I can honestly say that I can't picture anyone else voicing these characters. Bill Murray killed it as Baloo, Ben Kingsley IS Bagheera (which I just found out is spelled with a B and not an M) and Idris Elba will be the definitive Shere Khan I believe.

Disney's fascination with reinventing their classic animated movies confuses me. They either haven't been very good, or they just don't interest me. However, when I saw the trailer to this movie I was stunned, and hooked. I went in excited, but still worried at what they could mess up, and to my pleasant surprise they not only do The Jungle Book justice but they actually improve on it.

There's a solid through line you can follow in this movie that makes Mowgli running into all these different animals believable, and even the very animated parts they have in the original movie had really creative scenes. Take for instance the scene in the original where Kaa traps Mowgli and puts him under his spell using psychedelic eyes. I didn't think this movie would do that, but to my shock it did, and they did it in a very realistic way that just made me giddy.

Another problem I think this film had to overcome was to make fans understand that it isn't a CGI fest. I mean, it is, but you're sucked into their world so fast that you really don't care. You believe these are baby wolves interacting with Mowgli. You believe each character can talk, and sing. When the animals are fighting each other you heart breaks at how realistic their fights are. If claws are being sunk into flesh it looks like claws are being sunk into flesh. You believe that Mowgli and riding Baloo, griping his fur and everything. This film is so beautiful and wonderful to look at that I don't even want to think how many hours these people had to work on this film to make everything photo realistic.

Speaking of photo realism, it's because this movie is so real that I think a lot of young kids will be scared. This isn't a happy-go-lucky story. Mowgli gets hurt, you can see his body get more and more scratched up throughout the movie. Shere Khan is terrifying. He does kill in this movie, and those scenes are gut punching. Even his look is terrifying. Not only does Idris Elba bring the presence of his voice to this character, but you can feel Shere Khan's power over every creature. You can feel and see why he's the most feared, and you do fear him. He's probably the best Disney villain we've had in a while.

Christopher Walken was a wonderful job playing King Louie. He's not that swinging cat you remember, oh no. Walken brings a type of Kingly aura to the role. When you hear him speak you can tell that he's a ruler, but you can also hear a darker side to him within his speech. When it's time to chase Mowgli it's actually scary how nimble this gigantic ape is, his while his words are kind, his face and actions just puts a creepy vibe over the whole scene.

But I have to say that my favorite character, and performance in this whole movie was Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha. My heart broke so many times watching that wolf mother protect her young, reassuring Mowgli that no matter what he'll always be her son. She's such a strong female character, and her interaction with Shere Khan were just great. Lupita really brings that emotion into every single word that comes out of her mouth, and her connection to Mowgli will always stand out for me.

Overall, The Jungle Book went above and beyond my expectations, and I think it greatly improved on the original movie by giving their jungle a mythology. Each animal has their place, they each believe in something and stick to what their best trait is. The Jungle Book has more depth to it than I think anyone would have guessed, and I say that this is a must see. Neel Sethi does a wonderful job at acting against nothing, and by the end of the film you believe he is Mowgli. I will say that some scenes are too dark, and too realistic for young kids, but I think this movie will be one of the best this year.

A-