The Jungle Book Review

Watch it on the big screen! 

The Jungle Book Review – My favourite childhood book and animation gets a Disney’s retouch and revival.

Mowgli and his forest friends. 

Do I even need to tell about this world famous children’s story? Ok fine, Mowgli a man-cub (new comer Neel Sethi) is raised by a pack of wolves since he was rescued as a baby by Bagheera the Black Panther (the majestic sounding Sir Ben Kingsley). As the boy grows up, a vicious tiger, Shere Khan (Idris Elba) threatens Mowgli’s life and to keep him safe, Bagheera plans to send him back to human civilization. They were attacked and Mowgli gets separated from Bagheera and bumps into other jungle animals that want to take advantage of him. Among them, Kaa the python (sexy sounding Scarlett Johansson) and King Louie the Orangutan (the weirdo that is Christopher Walken who actually sings in this flick!). Mowgli also befriends Baloo the Bear (voiced by Bill Murray) and after finding out that Shere Khan killed the wolf leader, Akela (Giancarlo Esposito), Mowgli decides to face the tiger head on. With plenty of tricks up his non existing sleeves, Mowgli’s defeats his enemy and return peace to the jungle.

A picture full of talents. 

Talk about a super awesome voice cast! This is the BEST OF THE BEST! I especially loved Ben’s voice as the Black Panther! His voice was best matched with super realistic looking beast. All the ‘animals’ and their human counterparts complimented each other. To say that each actor perfectly suited their character and made the performance as believable as possible would be an understatement. Speaking of which we even get to hear Bill Murray singing that famous Bear song (*wink wink). Newbie Neel shines like a 'red flower' (*hint - watch the movie to find out the meaning!) for his debut role in a big production. Another stunning effort was the detailing of the jungle residents, from the annoying Pangolin to the hypnotic Python. The man-cub maybe the only real living creature but by the end of the film, you won't mind thinking that Bagheera, Baloo, Raksha and the rest are equally real as well. Speaking of specification, the main setting, Seeonee (the jungle) was captured amazingly by to match every scene from the misty, mysterious, joy, dangerous and full on forest spirit. The storyline however were twerked slightly with a darker intensity but still family-friendly just like other Disney’s production. Be warned however, there are quite a few moments that get the heart pumping (trust me I know what I’m talking about, my partner almost jumped off her seat once! Hehehe) 

Does this man-cub belongs in the wild? 

I’ve always liked Jon Favreau’s work both as an actor or director and he did an incredible work helming this project which is close to his heart. Watching this movie brought back my early year memories when all we had to do was to pick up a good book and leave our reality and transform ourselves to another world. The Jungle Book isn’t just a good movie, but a GREAT one, and you won’t want to leave the world Favreau built even long after the credits finish rolling. It is an entharalling, illuminating cinematic experience that not only pays tribute to a timeless story, but manages to make it that much better. I’m looking for a second, third watch so hit me up if you wanna join me okies.