Growing up the 1967 classic "The Jungle Book" was one of my favorite Disney animated movies. I had this big Disney's The Jungle Book picture book that I read all the time. I had wined up toys from McDonalds of Shere Khan and Kaa. I even played the Super Nintendo video game. The Jungle Book was just a movie I absolutely loved as a kid. When I saw the first trailer for the new "live action" movie of The Jungle Book, my expectations went through the roof. Would this new movie live up to the 1967 classic?
I must say the 2016 version of The Jungle Book is fantastic. It adds new live to the 1967 classic. It sticks pretty close to the same story, but adds just enough to make it fresh and new. The actors that provide the voices for the characters bring a new life to them. Idris Elba as Shere Khan, the tiger, is menacing and evil. When he speaks you know this is a creature you do not want to mess with. Bill Murray as Baloo, the bear, brings this doopey, sweetness to the character that makes you want to give him a big ol' bear hug. But the true star of the movie is Mowgli, the "man-cub". Mowgli is played by Neel Sethi, who previously had only been in a short film. This Neel is the only human in the movie, he has to act the entire time against animals that are added later via CGI. I can only imagine how hard that must have been and he knocks it out of the park.
The main reason though to see this version of The Jungle Book is the visual effects. Within five minutes of the movie starting you completely forget that everything you are looking at was created by a computer. The scenery and the animals are extremely realistic. One of the things I enjoyed most about the visuals were the tiny details the animators added. There is a scene where King Louie, the orangutan, is speaking with Mowgli and on King Louie you can see other tiny little monkeys climbing in and out of his hair.
If I had to pick one thing I didn't enjoy about the movie was the scene with King Louie. Now if you have seen the 1967 version of The Jungle Book you know that there is a lot of singing in that movie. In this version of The Jungle Book that is not the case, except for during King Louie's scene. For me it just felt out of the place. The scene would have still worked with King Louie just speaking what he wants from Mowgli instead of singing it.
The Jungle Book is a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen. The visuals are outstanding. The voice acting is superb. I had a smile on my face the entire time. If you feel like you don't need to seen this version of The Jungle Book because you have seen the animated version so many times, you are wrong. You need to see this movie. It adds new life to a classic and adds to it in almost every way possible.
4 1/2 Stars
