Nearly 50 years after The Mouse House first adapted Rudyard Kipling’s iconic literary works for the screen with their animated musical “The Jungle Book” (the last film Walt Disney produced), a new version for a new generation has arrived. The 2016 “Jungle Book” is directed by Jon Favreau, whose diversity of films include innocent “Elf”, a smart-aleck “Iron Man”, a whole-hearted “Chef” and some “Cowboys & Aliens” that even he’d like to forget about.
The story of “The Jungle Book” centers around young man-cub Mowgli (here played by newcomer Neel Sethi), who was left abandoned in the jungle as an infant. A protective panther named Bagheera (voiced by Ben Kingsley) discovers and protects Mowgli, taking him further into the jungle to be brought-up with a pack of wolves. Bagheera is the best character in this movie, with Kingsley delivering an outstanding, at times quite moving, voice performance.
The evil tiger, Shere Khan (voiced by Idris Elba) feels threatened by Mowgli (since he’s a human) and wants him dead. There are a handful of “jump-out-at-you” moments, especially involving the menacing Khan, that will definitely scare younger kids. Mowgli is in peril throughout the entire film, whether it’s during his interaction with the slithering and hungry boa, Kaa (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), who tempts him to “trust” in her, chased by Khan, or being surrounded by fire (“The Red Flower”). I applaud Favreau for not playing it safe with the violence, as it allows the audience to feel the danger the young boy is in – within PG-rated limits.
But, as gritty and dark as it is, “The Jungle Book” also has its lighter moments, mostly with Mowgli’s friendship with bear Baloo. You’d think Bill Murray was an inspired choice to voice Baloo. But the problem is Murray doesn’t do a character voice. He simply says his lines with his extremely recognizable Bill Murray voice. This definitely takes you out of the moment and is quite challenging to get used to.
I was curious if/how Favreau was going incorporate the iconic songs from the original into this version. He does with full production numbers of both “The Bare Necessities” and “I Wanna Be Like You” (performed by Christopher Walken as ape King Louie). These scenes definitely break-up the dramatic flow, but they’re also welcome and memorable. And they may give little kids something to think about on the way home – instead of the nightmares they may have about Mowgli’s multiple brushes with death.
The main hook of “The Jungle Book” is the look. Favreau shot all of Seethi’s scenes (and he’s in practically ever scene in the movie) on soundstages in draped with green-screens. All the animals were brought to life through the technique of photorealism animation, and the results are amazingly impressive, technically flawless, and rarely distracting. However, outside of a few key scenes with Mowgli and Bagheera, including one involving a herd of elephants, the story doesn’t provide much of an emotional spark. None of the relationships between friends or foes work to the level that you become deeply invested in how this tale is going to play out. And the ending – let’s just say it lacks the impact of the ’67 classic.
Favreau is ambitious and successful with practically every other aspect. But in order for this “Jungle Book” to be on par or exceed its hand-drawn predecessor, having Walt’s ability to make us care deeply about these characters was a necessity.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “The Jungle Book” gets a solid B.
Running Time: 106 min.