Kipling Comes Alive
BY JONATHAN KANE
The Walt Disney Company has another monster hit on its hands with its outstanding live-action remake of their 1967 animated classic “The Jungle Book,” based faithfully on Rudyard Kipling’s stories. Unlike the lightheartedness of the 1967 movie, this one has some bite, literally, and frankly seems to be too scary and intense for young audiences, but it also has great humor that will make it endearing to everyone.
This latest ‘Jungle Book’ also may be the best computer-generated animation film ever made and a lot of the credit goes to director Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”) and two digital companies, MPC and Weta Digital, that made it all happen. Just imagine the amazing digital bear of “The Revenant” and extend it to two hours of talking animals and a realistic jungle. It makes you optimistic for the future of a medium that until now we have been saddled with.
The story is a classic and Favreau has woven in timeless themes of protecting the planet and the child’s journey to adulthood. The lead character, a young boy, Mowgli, played passably by Neel Sethi (although, to be fair, he plays the whole movie to a green screen), has been raised by wolves. His father was killed by the Bengal tiger that rules the jungle, but who was also disfigured by the man wielding fire. That tiger now wants the boy for revenge.
So begins his journey out of the jungle with the panther that saved him as a baby. Of course, things don’t go well and there are a lot of adventures afoot, culminating in the finale showdown between the boy and tiger.
The voice work and casting are what make the movie truly special – especially Bill Murray, who absolutely steals the movie, playing Baloo, the con-artist bear that befriends the child. Murray sets the tone and it’s a winning one.