94% on Rotten Tomatoes
Chloe's thoughts: Signed, sealed and recommended by Chloe; Watch it in cinemas; I'm buying the DVD
Watch it if you: Love Disney; liked The Jungle Book; like animals; want to see stunning visual effects
The Jungle Book tells the story of Mowgli, a boy who, as an infant, was found alone in the jungle by a black panther named Bagheera. The boy is raised by the leader of a pack of wolves, and he grows up struggling to learn the 'way of the wolf' due to his human form. Further complications arrive when Shere Khan, a vengeful and violent Bengal tiger with a vendetta against mankind, discovers of Mowgli's existence and seeks to kill him.
First things first, I'm not a very big fan of the original Disney film in 1967. Like many of Disney's older films, it's more of a conglomerate amalgamation of small and distinct events that the creators decided to shove together using Mowgli as a very loose plot device to connect them all. Perhaps the only redemptions of the 1967 film are the songs that are sung.
But all that doesn't matter because this film isn't an adaptation of the original Disney film, it's an adaptation of the original novel by Rudyard Kipling, which apparently (I haven't read it yet) has more of a plot than the Disney film made it seem. But regardless of whether or not the current film is a faithful adaptation to the original novel, or whether the creators just added a few more plot elements, I was actually really pleased with the plot of this film.
The whole story is tied together really well. I went into this film thinking it would lack substance and be boring like the 1967 one (but not as boring), but it definitely had more of a cohesive flow in terms of plot.
Serious credit goes to Jon Favreau; he seriously did a great job with this film (if you don't know who he is, he directed Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010) and acted in the Iron Man films as Happy Hogan, Iron Man's personal assistant).
The best thing about this film is the amazing CGI. If you are thinking of watching this, it is definitely worth a watch in cinemas. It's so amazing how everything looks so realistic. And I'm not just talking about the animals; they filmed this on a sound stage, meaning the entire Jungle is CGI! I didn't even realise that until after I watched the film and read up on it!
Neel Sethi, the child actor who plays Mowgli, is amazing. He is really great, I can't believe he managed to pull this off. It must have been extremely difficult for him to imagine the animals and the jungle environment, but he really did a great job for having the only human role in this film. I'm definitely looking forward to his career, and I hope he goes far.
The other actors are, of course, great as well. Ben Kingsley as Bagheera and Idris Elba as Sheere Khan were fantastic (although that might just be my love for British accents speaking).
Bill Murray as Baloo was hilarious (and sometimes it felt like you really could see Bill Murray reacting under the bear's face - another credit going to the CGI department)! They also did some throwbacks to the original Disney film, keeping some of the songs, so it was great hearing BIll Murray sing The Bare Necessities; that was such a lovely scene.
Christopher Walken as King Louie was alright... I know Christopher Walken is a great actor but I've just never liked his voice... he has the SAME VOICE for absolutely EVERYTHING! I didn't feel like his voice even worked in this character because the sequence with King Louie is actually quite sinister and ominous, and to me his voice is really cartoonist, so I felt like I wasn't as scared or worried as I should be. Having said that, he was great when singing I Wan'na Be Like You, although the song didn't seem to match the serious tone of that scene.
Lastly, Scarlett Johansson and Lupita Nyong'o as Kaa and Raksha respectively were great female voice actors. Scarlett Johansson had a really minor part but who really cares when her voice is that sexy?! She also sings Trust in Me and while this isn't in the actual film, it's in the end credits and it's great. I was also blown away by how emotional Lupita Nyong'o's voice acting was. She was able to convey, just through her vocal cords, a strong yet vulnerable mother wolf, and it was amazing to hear, even just things like little trembles or quivers in her voice when her character was in a vulnerable position.
One thing I might add is that it is a bit scarier than you might think it to be. The tone of the film is a lot darker than I expected, and at times I got a bit frightened, so it's definitely a cross-generational film for both children and adults.
The film also feels quite long. It has a runtime of just under 2 hours, and while I get that they are trying to fit in more plot to make it cohesive, there are some sequences that just run on for a bit too long.
Overall, though, I went into the film not expecting too much but I was blown away by the amazing CGI, the great voice acting, the absolutely AMAZING acting by Neel Sethi, and the great plot elements that really added to the film.
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