Review of The Jungle Book (2016) by Patrick L — 27 Jul 2016

"Disney's live-action rebirth of "The Jungle Book" is a visual marvel".

Movie Review: The Jungle Book (2016).

Date Viewed: April 19 2016.

Directed By Jon Favreau (Elf, Chef, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Cowboys & Aliens and Zathura).

Screenplay By Justin Marks, Based on "The Jungle Book" created by Rudyard Kipling.

Starring: Neel Sethi.

Voices By: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Lupita Nyong'o, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, Garry Shandling, Brighton Rose, Sam Raimi, Jon Favreau, Madeleine Favreau and Russell Peters.

Disney's live-action rebirth of "The Jungle Book" is a visual marvel. The special effects are terrific and this big-budget beast has breathtakingly beautiful photography from Bill Pope. Out of Disney's live-action takes on animated classics, "The Jungle Book" stands out as the best. Director Jon Favreau (Elf, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Cowboys & Aliens) has crafted an amazingly gorgeous family adventure. Favreau could've turned it into another blatant cash-grab but he remained faithful to Rudyard Kipling's original creations as well as the original 1967 animated "Jungle Book". It's one of those rare instances where a remake to a classic film is actually as good as the original.

It's short on ideas in the creative department but "The Jungle Book" is an engaging trip to a wonderous place. As with the original, an orphan baby named Mowgli gets rescued by a black panther, Bagheera (voiced by Ben Kingsley) and he gets raised by a pack of wolves led by Akela (voiced by Giancarlo Esposito). Years later, child turned man cub Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi) faces certain challenges ahead of him including following in his father's footsteps or should I say paws.

When the jungle animals declare a truce in enabling to drink water without fear of being killed or eaten by large predatory beasts, a deeply scarred Bengal tiger named Shere Khan (voiced by Idris Elba) pops up and threatens to kill Mowgli at the end of the drought unless he is separated from his pack. After much debate, Akela thinks it's best for Mowgli to leave the jungle and find a man village that will care for him. Shere Khan was scarred by man years ago and now he is resentful to the jungle animals for letting a human be a part of their kind.

During Mowgli's adventure, he meets an ginormous Indian python, Kaa (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), he develops a friendship with a honey-loving sloth bear named Baloo (voiced by Bill Murray) and he encounters a giant orangutan monkey named King Louie (voiced by Christopher Walken). We do get to listen to the eventual "Bear Necessities" song but it is an exciting and fun adventure from director Favreau. Neel Sethi is compelling is his feature debut as Mowgli and the voice cast led by Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley and Idris Elba is right-on-the-dot superb.

Since it's a Disney reimaginating to one of their animated classics, the live-action "The Jungle Book" is being marketed for family audiences but it has some really intense moments. It was probably a drip of honey away from being a PG-13 rated film.

Favreau definitely hit the right notes with "The Jungle Book", it is a dazzling experience and you should see it in 3D. It's far from a classic but it's beautiful to look at and it's visually stunning in every technical level.