Review of The Jungle Book (1994) by Carfan1999 — 11 Aug 2016

Before I start the review, there are two things that i'd recommend you do before seeing this film. Number 1- watch the original 1967 animated film as there are many references from that film in this new one. Number 2- see this in 3D, as it improves the visuals and heightens the action.

I was skeptical about this movie originally as previous live action Disney movies (based off their cartoons) were not highly rated and Disney itself is hellbent on making money with remakes, sequels, and spin-offs. This seemed like another cash grab movie. However, I'm happy to report that this new Jungle Book is a properly done remake. It honors the original source material (the actual book & 67' movie) and improves upon it at the same time.

All I can say about the original is that it's a cute movie with nice songs and fluid animation. But it lacks a core plot, lacks drama, and is filled with filler scenes. The new one takes the basic plot line of the original and adds all the elements that were missing from it to make a deeper, darker, and more complex story. The action scenes are tense and violent, emotion is clearly displayed, and the story itself takes a balanced amount of material from the original movie and the books by Rudyard Kipling. Our main character, Mowgli, has adventures with the various animals while dealing with the threat of tiger Shere Khan. As this film is all animated, except Mowgli, the voice acting is done quite well from all the A- list actors involved and the one real actor does a superb job as well. The songs are very catchy and the lighter scenes are pleasant as well.

However, the majority of the credit for this should go to the animators. The animation here is so realistic and detailed that it seems completely real and believable. Since this was filmed and created for 3D specifically, it's best to see this that way. So is this a perfect movie? No. The biggest problem with this movie is the way the story is told. While a lot better over the original, the story is a little episodic and feels disjointed. The 2/3 act is overly long and a little boring. In addition, since the voice actors are so well known that when their characters spoke, at times I could only envision the actor speaking in the recording booth. Overall, this new 2016 Jungle Book is a technical masterpiece with wonderful animation, memorable characters, and a story that; while disjointed and overly long; is an improvement over the original.