The Jungle Book (2016) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: The Jungle Book
Year: 2016
Director: Jon Favreau
Country: US
Language: English

Disney's recent trend of creating live-action versions of their classic animated films have lead to a lot of disappointments. Some try too hard to be revisionist, like Maleficent (2014) which changes Sleeping Beauty's antagonist into a more sympathetic character. Others, like Cinderella (2015), lack a lot of the charm the original had. With The Jungle Book (2016) it finally looks like Disney's has made a good live action adaptation.

After a threat from the tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) forces him to flee the jungle, a man-cub named Mowgli (Neel Sethi)embarks on a journey of self discovery with the help of panther, Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), and free spirited bear, Baloo (Bill Murray). 

Less a take on Rudyard Kipling's famous stories than a recycling of Walt Disney Productions' 1967 adaptation, The Jungle Book doesn't stray too far from what audiences are already familiar with. The small changes this film does make are quite impressive however. For example the orangutan King Louie is now a giant Vito Corleone-esque character, wonderfully voiced by Christopher Walken. The snake Kaa is now a prophetic and seductive woman, voiced by Scarlett Johanssen. 

Renewed versions of "The Bare Necessities" sung by Baloo and "I Wanna Be Like You" add great enjoyment to a somewhat surreal fantasy, even though other critics might consider them out of place. The impressive FX work can be seen in shots that have been painstakingly brought to life by CGI wizards and their impressive computers. I normally don't praise CGI, especially when it comes at the expense of practical effects, but this was incredibly well made.

The most surprising part of this production is Neel Sethi. Despite this being his first film and thus obviously his acting needs some work, he shows great acting potential. I'm surprised he was given such a demanding role as his debut performance. Overall The Jungle Book was able to keep me engaged throughout its run-time. I wish it was longer infact.