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The Jungle Book (2016)
The Jungle Book is one of those films that sounded like an absolutely terrible idea when it was announced. Nobody wanted to see it, it was predicted to flop on many movie forums, met with many groans of 'Not another live-action adaptation of a Walt Disney animation'. Nobody predicted it would be a visual masterpiece akin to 2009's Avatar. Yet Jon Favreau has managed to make a film that not only meets the visual highs of Avatar but manages to beat them and push the CGI technology even further.
Usually I would explain the story here but do I really need to explain it again? We all know the story of The Jungle Book. Man cub is raised by wolves, tiger opposes man in the jungle, man cub fights tiger. It's an age-old tale and if you're not familiar with it then just what did your parents show or read to you when you were little? What's great about this version of The Jungle Book however is that it takes these characters we're all familiar with and develops them more than in the Walt Disney version. Shia Khan has a motive for wanting Mowlgi out of the jungle more than just discrimination against man and Baloo, Bagheera and Mowgli all go on very real and very believable character journeys. Baloo wants to be lazy and send Mowgli to collect the honey but must learn to accept responsibility. Bagheera wants to follow things strictly by the rules but needs to let Mowgli make his own decisions about where he wants to live (jungle or man village). Mowgli, meanwhile, wants to stay in the jungle as it is all he has been used to as his home but in order to do so must accept that he is a man and not an animal. This quite simply is a more fleshed out and organic Jungle Book that offers a deeper exploration of its characters, their motives and their wants/needs.
Of course, a big draw to this film is the visual effects, with only one major human character in a CGI jungle environment with CGI animals. I say 'major' because there is another human character but he only features briefly in a flashback sequence of Mowgli's childhood. The CGI in this film is quite simply breath-taking; it's hard to believe it isn't a real jungle because it looks so realistic. The animals also look unbelievably true to real life; nothing looks like obvious CGI. The CGI is so good I found myself forgetting I was watching CGI animals. I mean, how can this be CGI:
Has director Jon Favreau tricked us to think it's actually CGI? Has he secretly been using real animals? If not, what is this trickery?!? Because Baloo does not look CGI one bit. I want to believe Baloo is real, Scully!
I saw the film in 3D and the effect was honestly the best 3D I have ever seen. I felt like I was actually in the jungle with these animals and I didn't want to leave. This is how I imagine the 3D for Avatar was probably like, although if that film was even half as good as this film's 3D I'd be very surprised. Seriously: you feel like you could have stepped right through the picture and swung through the jungle Tarzan-style like Mowgli. The best of the 3D effects was whenever water or bees featured in the shots; oh, and also the magnificent opening with the Walt Disney logo leading into the jungle and the film's title.
One thing I don't understand is why some people complained about Neel Sethi as Mowgli. Neel Sethi is the perfect Mowgli and feels exactly like the one in the 1967 original. It is incredible how well he acted given he was acting against a green screen and maybe the odd tennis ball on a stick. The highlight by far is Bill Murray as Baloo though; he is definitely the definitive Baloo to me, better than Phil Harris in the original and providing what I believe to be simply one of the best performances in cinema in a while. It is quite simply the most perfect, phenomenal and genius casting decision of all time. Bill Murray absolutely kills it; he steals the show and proves why he is such a fantastic character actor. Ben Kingsley is great as Bagheera too (it's great how they keep Bagheera's narration from the original) but nothing compared to Baloo. Not even Christopher Walken as an interesting 'mafia boss' take on King Louie or the criminally underused Scarlett Johansson as Kaa come close to the performance Bill Murray provides.
My only real criticism is that whilst Bare Necessities feels natural in its placement, I Wanna Be Like You feels forced and out of character for this darker version of Louie. It is somewhat detrimental to his character as they set up this big, scary Gigantopithecus then downplay him by making him sing the song. And make no mistake, this version of The Jungle Book can be scary. I have no idea how it got a PG and can understand why people complained it was too scary for kids, even though I personally believe kids should be scared. There are many jump scares in the film, especially
. I'm 20 years old and that even made me jump!
Overall, The Jungle Book is not only a great family movie but it also manages to improve upon the original 1967 classic by developing the characters and their motives further. The CGI is breath-taking, the 3D makes you want to step through the screen and find yourself in the jungle and Bill Murray gives one of the best cinematic performances of all time as Baloo. This is absolutely a must-see; an absolutely phenomenal take on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book that's basically the Avatar of 2016.
(but I would give it 6/5 if the rating system would accept that).
The Jungle Book is one of those films that sounded like an absolutely terrible idea when it was announced. Nobody wanted to see it, it was predicted to flop on many movie forums, met with many groans of 'Not another live-action adaptation of a Walt Disney animation'. Nobody predicted it would be a visual masterpiece akin to 2009's Avatar. Yet Jon Favreau has managed to make a film that not only meets the visual highs of Avatar but manages to beat them and push the CGI technology even further.
Usually I would explain the story here but do I really need to explain it again? We all know the story of The Jungle Book. Man cub is raised by wolves, tiger opposes man in the jungle, man cub fights tiger. It's an age-old tale and if you're not familiar with it then just what did your parents show or read to you when you were little? What's great about this version of The Jungle Book however is that it takes these characters we're all familiar with and develops them more than in the Walt Disney version. Shia Khan has a motive for wanting Mowlgi out of the jungle more than just discrimination against man and Baloo, Bagheera and Mowgli all go on very real and very believable character journeys. Baloo wants to be lazy and send Mowgli to collect the honey but must learn to accept responsibility. Bagheera wants to follow things strictly by the rules but needs to let Mowgli make his own decisions about where he wants to live (jungle or man village). Mowgli, meanwhile, wants to stay in the jungle as it is all he has been used to as his home but in order to do so must accept that he is a man and not an animal. This quite simply is a more fleshed out and organic Jungle Book that offers a deeper exploration of its characters, their motives and their wants/needs.
Of course, a big draw to this film is the visual effects, with only one major human character in a CGI jungle environment with CGI animals. I say 'major' because there is another human character but he only features briefly in a flashback sequence of Mowgli's childhood. The CGI in this film is quite simply breath-taking; it's hard to believe it isn't a real jungle because it looks so realistic. The animals also look unbelievably true to real life; nothing looks like obvious CGI. The CGI is so good I found myself forgetting I was watching CGI animals. I mean, how can this be CGI:
Has director Jon Favreau tricked us to think it's actually CGI? Has he secretly been using real animals? If not, what is this trickery?!? Because Baloo does not look CGI one bit. I want to believe Baloo is real, Scully!
I saw the film in 3D and the effect was honestly the best 3D I have ever seen. I felt like I was actually in the jungle with these animals and I didn't want to leave. This is how I imagine the 3D for Avatar was probably like, although if that film was even half as good as this film's 3D I'd be very surprised. Seriously: you feel like you could have stepped right through the picture and swung through the jungle Tarzan-style like Mowgli. The best of the 3D effects was whenever water or bees featured in the shots; oh, and also the magnificent opening with the Walt Disney logo leading into the jungle and the film's title.
One thing I don't understand is why some people complained about Neel Sethi as Mowgli. Neel Sethi is the perfect Mowgli and feels exactly like the one in the 1967 original. It is incredible how well he acted given he was acting against a green screen and maybe the odd tennis ball on a stick. The highlight by far is Bill Murray as Baloo though; he is definitely the definitive Baloo to me, better than Phil Harris in the original and providing what I believe to be simply one of the best performances in cinema in a while. It is quite simply the most perfect, phenomenal and genius casting decision of all time. Bill Murray absolutely kills it; he steals the show and proves why he is such a fantastic character actor. Ben Kingsley is great as Bagheera too (it's great how they keep Bagheera's narration from the original) but nothing compared to Baloo. Not even Christopher Walken as an interesting 'mafia boss' take on King Louie or the criminally underused Scarlett Johansson as Kaa come close to the performance Bill Murray provides.
My only real criticism is that whilst Bare Necessities feels natural in its placement, I Wanna Be Like You feels forced and out of character for this darker version of Louie. It is somewhat detrimental to his character as they set up this big, scary Gigantopithecus then downplay him by making him sing the song. And make no mistake, this version of The Jungle Book can be scary. I have no idea how it got a PG and can understand why people complained it was too scary for kids, even though I personally believe kids should be scared. There are many jump scares in the film, especially
WARNING: spoilers below
when Mowgli and Bagheera are walking through the jungle when Shia Khan suddenly jumps out among the grass
Overall, The Jungle Book is not only a great family movie but it also manages to improve upon the original 1967 classic by developing the characters and their motives further. The CGI is breath-taking, the 3D makes you want to step through the screen and find yourself in the jungle and Bill Murray gives one of the best cinematic performances of all time as Baloo. This is absolutely a must-see; an absolutely phenomenal take on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book that's basically the Avatar of 2016.
(but I would give it 6/5 if the rating system would accept that).