The Jungle Book Review

I have spoken about reboots on this blog before.  You can read some of my thoughts here and here (NEW WINDOWS) or I can just tell you that I am not fond at the fact that reboots are saturating the market and many of them aren't good.  I offer, today, one exception.  That is, The Jungle Book.

Jungle Book

The Jungle Book is a live-action (read: CGI save 1 character) reboot of the Disney animated film based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling.  The film holds a 7.5 on IMDb, but I think it deserves better.

I know what you're thinking...but why?

The film is gorgeous.  Like stunningly gorgeous.  Jon Favreau directs with such gusto that I often found myself immersed in this world.

The film is so well cast that I truly believed in each character.  Yes, it's a reboot and yes, we all know the story well, but this version made it feel new.  Neel Sethi, in his debut performance, offers an epic and refreshing take on Mowgli.  The entire cast comes alive through motion capture, but Neel is acting his young heart out in, what I assume is, a lonely green room filled with tennis balls on sticks and Jon making goofy animal faces as a stand in.

The music is a tasty update on the classic Richard Sherman songs including some new verse to accommodate a character update.

Sure, there are some flaws relating to animal geography and behaviors, but you're not watching a documentary.  I encourage you to check out this piece of art while it is still available on Netflix or drop the dollars to rent or buy the film.

"This is the law of the jungle it's old and it's true as the sky And the wolf that should keep it may prosper but the wolf who will break it must die. For the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack."