Movie review: The Jungle Book

Adventure/Drama

Rated – PG

Duration –1 hours 45 mins

Release – April 2016

Director –Jon Favreau

Cast –Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Christopher Walken, Scarlett Johansson

Mr Knight
The Jungle Book. What a classic from our childhood to treat ourselves to. Seeing the previews for this one and the cast, I was completely intrigued, and when Mrs Knight told me she had preview screening tickets in North Adelaide on a Sunday morning at 10.30am, I was on board. Here we are sitting in an old fashioned theatre, with families all around, kids running and screaming and I think we were the only two without a child with us! Despite all of that, I don’t think this was a kids movie at all.

As many would know, The Jungle Book is the tale of Mowgli (Neel Sethi), a man-cub brought up in the jungle amongst the animals and in the care of a wolf pack and a very well-spoken and uptight panther, Bagheera (Sir Ben Kingsley). Mowgli wants nothing more than to enjoy his life with his pack, but he is forced to flee and return to his people when Shere Khan (Idris Elba) a ferocious, in both appearance and determination, tiger comes to hunt and kill Mowgli.

Visually the movie was incredible. Hats off to director Jon Favreau for such a brilliant job and pushing for the best. The animals looked, moved and even sounded (when roaring) like the real thing. It had such a genuine feel to it and made me almost believe it was possible that these animals could talk.

The second great aspect of this film was its cast. Putting together names like Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Christopher Walker, Sir Ben Kingsley and Scarlett Jo just to name a few, was first class icing on the movie cake. I understand this cast simply did the voices but I found it fun just trying to guess who each of the characters were. Favreau has clearly used his friendships and connections with this one working with a majority of the cast before in previous films as either an actor or director.

One thing I noticed once again with the Disney franchise is their love of using an English voiced villain. Disney has used the British accent for evil characters many times before including Jafar from Aladdin, Scar from The Lion King, the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Maleficient from Sleeping Beauty, just to name a few. Personally I think they are onto something because Idris Elba was brilliant and that nasty, angry, royal tone worked with an evil perfection.

Personally the weakest part of the film was Mowgli, but when you’re a twelve year old playing the leading role in what’s meant to be a children’s film, I can give him plenty of leeway. I thought it was an excellent movie to sit back and enjoy a true visual master piece unfold without over thinking it too much. On a sidenote, Bill Murray as Baloo lifted the story and Christopher Walken’s distinct voice as King Louie brought a huge smile to my dial.


 

Mrs Knight

I was never a Jungle Book fan as a child, so while I was looking forward to this adaptation I wasn’t overly excited or getting my hopes up. It was however, very enjoyable and I recommend you give it a go. It’s not just for kids.

The film is based on a young boy, Mowgli (Neel Sethi) who grows up in the jungle with a pack of wolves and his companion, a panther named Bagheera (Sir Ben Kingsley). The “man-cub” runs into trouble when he catches the eye of the villain, Shere Khan, a tiger voiced by Idris Elba. Panthers, wolves and tigers weren’t the only animals in this fairy tale. There were also monkeys, with the King Monkey voiced by Christopher Walken, a bear voiced by Bill Murray and a snake voiced by Scar-Jo. Along with a few other creatures scurrying and thumping throughout.

Overall the movie was very entertaining. The animations of the animals were really cool. I suggest you see this one on the big screen so you can enjoy the animals at their full potential. If you’re an animal lover like us, I’m sure you will enjoy it. My only real negative was a couple of weak moments by Mowgli’s character, but I think it’s always difficult having a kid as the leading actor and this didn’t affect my opinion overall. A part from this it was an all-star cast and the characters of the animals carried the story along. My personal favourite was Bill Murray as Baloo the bear who provided a lot of the comedy.

Even though the toilet visits and crying was distracting, it was actually quite fun seeing it at a family screening. This was due to the children and parent reactions when big moments happened. There was a collection of “oohs”“ahhs” and “wows” a long with laughter in all the right places. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was a bit scary for some children, I suppose it depends what age they are and individual maturity levels.

Overall I really enjoyed this one, I smiled throughout and for days afterwards. It’s a fun, feel good family film. Just be careful with the real littlies. Not a must see, but if you enjoy family films, are a fan of the original or an animal lover, I highly recommend it. The success of this live-action adaption may reassure people that something similar will work with great titles such as The Lion King, Beauty & the Beast and Dumbo, amongst others. Looks like we will be re-living our childhood with all the classics!