"But this is my home!"
A man-cub named Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi) is being raised by wolves in the jungle. One day, the tiger Shere Khan (voiced by Idris Elba) orders Mowgli to leave the jungle, as he believes "man is forbidden!". The wolf pack discusses this, but Mowgli winds up deciding on his own to leave. Accompanied by Bagheera (voiced by Ben Kingsley). he starts reluctantly on his way to the man village. That is, until he runs into Baloo (voiced by Bill Murray).
The Jungle Book has been touted repeatedly for not being filmed on location, but entirely on green screen in Los Angeles. And truthfully, the visuals here are spectacular. You really have a hard time believing this was on green screen. The animals all look breathtakingly realistic. The backgrounds and effects are beautiful and successfully give an ominous sense of danger. Even the different Disney logo at the beginning is fantastic and worth the price of the 3D ticket.
Sethi is the only (or at least the only main) human in the midst of the green screen. And, considering he acts with just about nothing, he really does a great job. He really does bring Mowgli to life in an innocent and sincere way. His character goes through a "rite of passage" of sorts in this adaptation, and he shows the character's maturity by the time the film comes to its exciting climax.
The voice cast is strong too. Murray and Kingsley are both effective as Baloo and Bagheera, giving them personalities somewhat reminiscent of the animated film (and its 2003 sequel). Elba, doing a second-straight voice role for the Mouse House, proves to be great casting here. He delivers Shere Khan in a way that is more intimidating and scary than the animated original. The only characters from the original that don't have a speaking appearance here are Colonel Hathi (though an elephant group is seen) and the vultures.
After being a male in the original, Kaa is now a female snake in this version, and despite limited screentime, Scarlett Johannson is appropriately seductive and manipulative. Christopher Walken gives an interesting tone to King Louis, while Lupita Nyongo gives heart to the mother wolf, Raksha (though I thought this character was a little under-served in terms of screentime here). Garry Shandling's final role (before his passing) was a small one (a porcupine), but he still delivers a handful of funny lines.
John Debney's music score is great, with appropriate alternating themes of suspense and triumph. The cinematography of the Oscar-nominated Dick Pope really captures everything on an expert level. I also thought the ending with the pop-up storybook was a great idea. I also really appreciated how the script remained faithful to the original movie, without twisting things too much. (Spoiler alert) With the exception of a decisively different ending, many Disney fans will recognize how several things work in this movie. A few adorable characters here and there that stand out as memorable a few days after seeing it.
There are only a couple of missteps here. One, I felt the "wolf motto" (it wasn't called this, but if you watch the movie you'll know what I'm talking about) was repeated a little too much. Not saying it won't make kids want to recite it, but maybe they didn't need to say it 5-6 times. Secondly, while the incorporation of the classic songs "Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You" were fun additions, these renditions weren't exactly delivered well by who performed them. I could tell that Walken and Murray could hit some notes but fell flat on many others. Maybe the songs weren't in the right tune necessarily for them. Considering Sethi had to try and sing live on set (that's hard to do), he did try his best.
Out of all the animated movies Disney is remaking into live-action versions, The Jungle Book is arguably their most ambitious yet. With ground-breaking visuals comparable to that of Avatar, the film fulfills its promise to immerse you in this photo-realistic world. And in many scenes, like I said before, you just find it hard to believe this wasn't filmed in a real jungle.
What's even more impressive, however, is that this Jungle Book is surprisingly, despite some intensity, light on its feet. The film is very light-hearted, with a perfect amount of fun and chuckle-worthy moments (or the right kind of humor, as I'd like to say). Kudos to screenwriter Justin Marks for maintaining a very solid balance here between the convincing dangers of the jungle and the light-hearted whimsicality that Walt Disney himself put in his earlier animated efforts (The Jungle Book was the final animated film Walt was involved with heavily before his passing in 1966).
The very fact that The Jungle Book at many times feels like an old-fashioned Disney movie is quite an accomplishment. It combines the modern and the 1960's in a seamless and effective way. Like Cinderella last year, it remains respectful without twisting things up too much. Sure, the jungle here is arguably scarier and more intense than the cartoon, but director Jon Favreau wisely uses restraint in keeping things from becoming too dark and serious.
The Jungle Book isn't one of my favorite Disney movies, and this live-action remake won't be up there either. But, it's still great fun. And its' a visually-spectacular and surprisingly wholesome experience that make it a great choice for the whole family to watch together.
Score: 8.2/10
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of:
Language: Nothing profane. "Oh my gosh" and "heck".
Adult Content: Absolutely nothing sexual in nature. As far as nudity is concerned, Mowgli runs around in a red loincloth throughout the film.
Violence: This is the only part where parents of younger children may need to take caution. The Jungle Book features a handful of scenes featuring some scary animals and some realistic peril. Shere Khan and Kaa both will probably frighten the easily-impressionable. But Shere Khan attempts to kill Mowgli (out of "jump" scenes) several times. He sinks his teeth into a wolf (off-camera) and throws him off a cliff. We witness him take the life of a man also (seen only in shadow). Shere Khan is burned by the "red flower" (and it causes some destruction in the jungle also and is shown strongly in a human village). Bagheera, Baloo and a few wolves engage in fights with Shere Khan, with some badly injured by the time the dust clears. Mowgli gets one scratch on his body. Someone falls into fire. A temple collapses after a character does some serious damage. A snake nearly chokes and eats Mowgli. Bees sting characters repeatedly. Mowgli falls from ominous heights twice. One wildebeest stampede (reminiscent of The Lion King). Mowgli is pricked by a porcupine.
Drugs/Alcohol: In a brief scene involving the human village, we spot humans downing cups of unknown beverages (it could be alcohol, but its not clear).
Other: In one scene, elephants are said to have "created the jungle and all beings in the jungle [except humans]", and they are bowed to in respect. The temple King Louis resides in has some mild Hindu references in some statues found. Besides that, Baloo lies (to protect Mowgli).
