Review of The Jungle Book (2016) by Robert C — 25 Jul 2016

The Jungle Book was easily a Disney favorite as a child. How many times did I watch the cartoon? Beyond count. Then in 1994 came the first live action adaptation with Sam Neil and Cary Elwes, which was a solid take on the classic book. Now Disney takes another stab at making a live action adaptation of The Jungle Book, and at a point in time where Disney is rebooting all their classic cartoons to live action. Not a very likable time in my opinion. Outside of Pixar, Disney continues to keep originality on long term hold. This continuation to reboot and recycle the same material in Hollywood annoys me. The story is set, and it is pretty much the same story we've all grown to know and love. Now comes the part where a lot of recent films have failed. Seeing that the filmmakers actually gave a damn about telling the story as well as making the experience fun, rather than phoning in the project due to it's already established success. Jon Favreau is the director of this live action adaptation. With a unique filmography ranging from Made to Elf to Zathura to Iron Man to Chef, his take on the Rudyard Kipling book is both genuine and wonderful to watch. He completely homers here with The Jungle Book, which for me quickly became the first film since Mad Max: Fury Road where I was struck with complete awe and wonder.

The Jungle Book is a great journey from start to finish. It's not just another kids movie filled with over-the-top goofy corny G-rated gags. Nor is it another kids movie catering to an audience of just kids. When it's being funny the film is funny, when it's thrilling the film is exciting, when it's sad it even got an emotional response from me. With an A-list cast featuring great names like, Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Christopher Walken, Idris Elba, and Lupita Nyong'o, the film is carried by one single live action performance from a 13 year-old actor named Neel Sethi. The pressure of Neel's performance as Mowglu was crucial to The Jungle Book, cause every other actor only had to lend their voice. The result, you could not ask for a better performance from a 13 year old, like the one Neel gives as Mowgli. He carries the whole film without needing a single adult actor to step in for help, even though there are some great scenes from both Bill Murray and Christopher Walken. Both steal the spotlight, but only for a little bit. Another key character to the film is the jungle itself. The film's jungle is structured heavily with CGI, and yet the film does not lose it's balance to it's effects. The visuals are certainly jaw-dropping and breathtaking, but they do remain a backdrop for the characters and the story. But what a beautiful backdrop the visual effects are in The Jungle Book. To be impressed by visual effects is becoming more and more of a rare thing these days. The Jungle Book's visuals did more than impress, they dazzled me with child-like glee.

To watch Favreau's Jungle Book, was almost like being catapulted back through time and into a child-like state of mind where you find yourself laughing, smiling, and being at the life's simplest things. Not since Babe has there been this great of a live action movie featuring talking animals. Jon Favreau knows exactly how to reach kid in all of us.