The Jungle Book [PG]

Many strange tales are heard from the jungle, but none so incredible as the tale of the boy Mowgli. Found alone as an infant, he was raised by a pack of wolves and has happily spent his life in the pack. But now a fierce tiger named Shere Khan has proclaimed death to poor Mowgli and his only hope of safety is to leave the jungle and live in the man village among his own kind. Bitter at the prospect of leaving the jungle Mowgli embarks on the journey, but along the way he makes friends and has adventures that make him realise that no one has the right to stand between him and his home and his family. 

Based on the book by Rudyard Kipling, this is Disney’s second stab at the classic novel and I have to say that I quite enjoyed it. The breathtaking CGI, great vocal performances as well as a Neel Sethi’s who plays Mowgli, and rehash of the original soundtrack from the animated feature make The Jungle Book vibrant and a good family movie. 

I really like that Disney decided to do a ‘live’ action version of this classic amongst others because, when you think about it, the ‘realness of it, as opposed to the original animated film, actually brings the darker undertones of the story to the forefront: the threat of Shere Khan as well as the plethora of other dangers that Mowgli faces are much more obvious and it’s nice to see that. 

Yes it makes the film darker and maybe less of a ‘family’ movie if you intend to see with small children, some of the scenes can be a little scary, but I feel that this maybe works more as an adaptation of the book, which admittedly I have not read; my point is that the film is less ‘Disney’ in the clichéd, sweet, and sparkly, family meaning of the term, and the darkness and danger depicted in it, as well as the fun, beautiful, and humorous parts make it a much more well-rounded and balanced adaptation of the story than the animated film. 

Extending that point, I particularly like how all the villains are more or less depicted as villains whereas in the animated film, their villainy is quote subtle. We don’t just have Shere Khan poising the threats, but Kaa the snake who is really eerie when voiced by Scarlett Johansson, and King Louie the monstrous orang-utan: aside from the climactic confrontation with Shere Khan, the battle with Louis is probably the most exciting part of the film, not to mention that Christopher Walken gets to sing ‘I Wanna Be Like You’ and it’s glorious! 

The soundtrack stood out to me straight away because it really is a rehash of the Sherman Brothers’ original score, from the instrumental right through to the musical numbers, the melodies of which have been rewritten and integrated into the instrumental accompaniment. I found this devotion to the original score really nice and loved it all the more because the composers reinterpreted tracks from the original and turned them into atmospheric and moving instrumental pieces. 

The film’s ending is a bit of a departure from the animated film’s, but I actually liked this one better because it has a strong moral message about home, creed, family, and overcoming adversity, which are always nice and strong themes that don’t get old. 

Starring Neel Sethi who is wonderful as Mowgli and featuring the voice talents of Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Giancarlo Esposito, Garry Shandling, Scarlett Johansson, Brighton Rose, and Christopher Walken, The Jungle Book is a beautiful Disney re-imagining of a classic tale. Filled with action, adventure, danger, friendship, drama, and comedy, I really enjoyed it.