The Jungle Book
Is it just me or does everything turn to gold lately that Disney and The Jungle Book director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) put their hands on? Well, the Disney train surely does not stop here as the new The Jungle Book remake is simply a marvelous sight to behold and one of my favorite films of the year so far!
The most amazing thing about this film is that it was all shot on a sound stage in LA! The CGI is breathtaking and the 3D is flawless. In fact, even the ending credits are superbly and uniquely done.
It all starts with the story of Mowgli (Neel Sethi), the only actual actor and human in the film, being raised by a family of wolves after being abandoned in the jungle. All is well for awhile until the animals start debating about what can happen when Mowgli becomes a man and does bad things to them and their jungle.(Hunting, burning with fire, etc…) The main objector is the tiger Shere Khan (voiced amazingly well by Idris Elba). Instead of splitting the loyalties of the animals and causing any resentment, Mowgli decides to leave on his own to join his own species with his guardian and guide panther Bagheera (voiced by Ben Kingsley). The scenes here are remarkably emotional and powerful.
Mowgli soon befriends a free-spirited bear named Baloo (voiced by Bill Murray) and they proceed to have several humorous adventures until Mowgli finds out that Shere Khan is causing lots of trouble back home and so he decides to go back and exact some good old Disney style revenge.
I cannot stress how beautiful yet intense this film is and how Favreau and his team made the jungle and animals look so realistic. Some voice acting standouts include Scarlett Johansson as the creepy snake Kaa, Murray as Baloo, and Elba as Shere Khan.) It is so thrilling and adventure packed, I really did not want it to end! For those of you wanting to know if your favorite songs from the 1967 version are in this film, you will be very pleased! It is also done in a very cool and unassuming way as to not miss a beat with the storyline.
There are some scary situations in the film, so be mindful of that with children under 5 or so. I predict this movie to be a blockbuster hit for sure and the audience reaction at the end of the movie from my screening was more than enough proof. Kudos to Disney once again!
9 out 10
