The Jungle Book

Amazing story brought in such a beautiful way with a live young boy that was raised & living with wolves in the jungle (all the animals are animated but you feel like they're real and their voices are from GREAT actors). It blew me away when I saw it for the 1st time and thereafter. I'm a senior and didn't expect to love this movie so much. The story & characters are mesmerizing. It was directed & co-produced by Jon Favreau (he's a genius) who also directed some of the Marvel Movies (he even acted in them - very funny). Highly recommend this jaw-dropping movie.

An outstanding film for all ages. CGI is some of the best, everything looks absolutely real and beautiful. Neel Sethi in his first starring roll, (and the only live actor in the film), gives a performance that should have been an Oscar nomination. He grabs your attention and pulls you into the story. The director gives you an adventure you will want to see over and over. 9 stars. Would've given 10, but for Bill Murray's voice-over, which at times felt like Bill Murray and not Baboo. But then, I liked Phil Harris's Baboo.

I have never liked the Jungle Book. It has been one of those movies I've had to watch as a kid and never liked. Sure I liked the songs and had the cassette tape but the movie was never for me. Remakes growing up were not great and I was never interested. I saw the preview for this earlier this year and thought that it looked different, interesting, dark but fun...So I finally after months gave it a try. My family and I set up in the living room and on it went. From the beginning I was hooked! The animals looked so real and the little boy was very likeable. The voices all fit and my favorite was Baloo, Bill Murray. It was such a great movie and I didn't want it to end. It completely changed my views on the Jungle Book and quickly shot up to the top of my favorites list. My kids really liked it as well and my 9 year old son who never sits down long enough to watch a movie stayed the whole time and was extremely interested. This is worth the rent/buy. I bought because we watch it over and over again.

Director: Jon Favreau Screenwriter: Justin Marks Cast: Neel Sethi, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Bill Murray, Christopher Walken, Scarlet Johansson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Garry Shandling I mentioned in my review of 2015’s Cinderella that, “remakes, sequels, and formula retreads have littered Disney’s productions over the past few decades, but as they say, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” That statement remains remarkably true with this year’s The Jungle Book. Director Jon Favreau hops the fence from Disney’s Marvel studio productions to Disney’s, Disney studio productions; I imagine he’s eyeing one of those Star Wars spinoffs so he can pull off the Disney hat trick. As usual, Favreau brings his time-tested bag of tricks along with him to make The Jungle Book far better than it might have been in someone else’s hands. The Jungle Book retells the classic Rudyard Kipling story that also inspired the 1967 Disney animated classic as well as a Disney live-action film in 1994. After the death of his father at the jaws of the fierce tiger, Shere Khan (Idris Elba), orphaned child Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is taken in by a pack of wolves and raised as one of their own. As Mowgli ages, his human instincts and ingenuity begin to manifest, causing the fearsome Khan to threaten the pack with his terror if the “man-cub” is not surrendered. For his own good, Mowgli’s wolf-mother Raksha (Lupita Nyong’o) entrusts panther, Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) to escort Mowgli through the dense jungle and deliver him to the man-village for his own safety. Yes, this is a faithful retelling of a story that has been told many times over. So why do it and why is it worth seeing? As was the case with 2015’s Cinderella, when one decides to tell a familiar story like this, it is important to have a purpose. Fortunately, that is precisely why Favreau’s version is successful. From the very start, we are immersed in the jungle landscape with standard-setting visual effects that leave all Jungle Book predecessors in the dust. Furthermore, that “Favreau bag of tricks” results in style, fun, and pointed humor that makes the film feel fresh and exciting. Case in point, opening the film with a neurotic hedgehog frantically claiming any object he finds as “mine,” voiced by Garry Shandling in what is likely his final role (the film is also dedicated to Shandling in the end credits). Additionally, the landscapes are breathtaking and the narrative is full of life despite its having only one human character! Like his work on Elf, Favreau brings a fantasy world to life by relating it so well to our familiar world. Mowgli’s metaphorical journey resonates with audiences of all ages because like all good films based on a classic piece of literature, there are layers of appreciation for the central themes including relationships, integrity, and persistence. Of course, unlike Zootopia from earlier this year, these themes are more or less just “there” and not executed expertly enough to support the kind of conversation and discussion the story has in book form. Then there are the performances. I’ve purposefully left this discussion of specific characters for last, as I could never have anticipated how much I was going to enjoy them. First of all, our sole human actor, Neel Sethi is outstanding as Mowgli. This kid is athletic, heartwarming, and talented. Not many kids can carry a $175 million budget film all on their own, let alone on their first try! But let’s get down to it. Those who know me, know that I have a few cinematic heroes that I don’t shut up about: Woody Allen, Christopher Walken, and Bill Murray. I recently wrote a little retrospective on Walken called “Talkin’ Walken: A Top 10 List,” and of course my favorite movie of all time continues to be 1993’s Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, who I have often written about and whose name is consequently also the name of my dog. Now both actors have done some stinkers and several of those stinkers involve either voice acting and/or animals, so imagine my trepidation when I heard that these two actors would be voicing roles of animals in a Disney live-action Jungle Book. Still, like Mowgli I persevered keeping an open mind and hoping for the best. The first of these two actors to appear is Murray as Baloo the bear. Let me tell you, as a fan but also a critic, Murray is superb in this role. Anyone who supported that conversation about how Scarlet Johansson (who also voices a role in this film) deserved an Oscar nomination for voicing an operating system in Her, should be right back at it supporting Bill Murray for this performance. Yes, that sounds stupid, and that’s why that whole conversation was stupid in 2013, but he’s just as good. Thankfully, Favreau and screenwriter Justin Marks had the wherewithal to have Murray sing “Bare Necessities” and forgo that whole “live-action remakes don’t include the songs” rule. And speaking of singing, the classically trained singer, dancer, and actor Christopher Walken gets a crack at the film’s other most memorable number as King Louie with “I wan’na Be Like You.” There is no appropriate maximum number of times you can hear Christopher Walken say “Shooby-Doo” or “Gigantopithecus.” So it seems the Jungle Book renaissance is just getting underway. A sequel to this film to be helmed once again by Favreau has already been green lit. Also, this summer a Jungle Book clone in the form of Tarzan (but not the Disney story) will also grace the big screen. And even more confusingly, motion-capture magician Andy Serkis is directing and starring in his own darker, non-Disney version of The Jungle Book due out in 2018. B+ The Jungle Book is rated PG and has a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. If you stay a few minutes into the end credits, you will be treated to a reprise of Walken’s “I Wan’na Be Like You,” which I of course completely recommend.

Fantastic movie. Even though I grew up reading Jungle Book as a kid and I knew what was going to happen, I was at the edge of my seat. The story is quite simple with Mowgli (Neel Sethi who is brilliant) who has been living with the wolves since he was a baby is cast out of the pack in fear and mistrust. With the help of his faithful friend Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) he begins to make his way to the man- village. However, Bagheera and the tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba, wonderfully menacing) clash, Mowgli has to fend for himself. He then meets Baloo (Bill Murray) and they have a series of adventures together.The story is beautifully told and covers complicated topics like not fitting in,the importance of your pack staying together. One of my favorite moments of the film is where Bagheera and Baloo have validation that Mowgli is different and that taking him to the village may have him lose that. The movie is most definitely not one for small children, having some very tense scenes. I really felt that Jon Favreau has done a fantastic job of bringing one of my favorite childhood novels to life. The animals which I know are all CGI look superbly real. I would recommend this movie to anyone who has read jungle book.

Muy buena peli, tiene doblaje y subtítulos en español latino.

Normalerweise nehme ich meine Kritiken ja zum Kinostart direkt nach der Vorführung als Video auf, doch "The Jungle Book" habe ich leider verpasst und hole das nun hier kurz als Text nach. Der Film als solcher ist m.E. hervorragend: Obwohl vermutlich jeder den Animationsklassiker von Disney kennt, bleibt man gebannt an der Handlung. Die Optik finde ich beeindruckend: Obwohl das Meiste aus dem Computer stammt, wirkt fast alles extrem real. Neel Sethi als Mowgli ist die perfekte Besetzung und spielt jederzeit komplett überzeugend. Auch die 3D-Effekte (gesehen auf einem 65" OLED Panasonic mit Pol-Technik) haben mich weitgehend überzeugt. Ein stimmiges Gesamtpaket mithin, dem ich 5 Sterne verleihe. Was allerdings gar nicht geht ist die deutsche Synchronisation! Damit meine ich zu 90 Prozent Joachim Król, der ausgerechnet Bagheera spricht, also den Panther, der gleichzeitig auch als Erzähler fungiert. Abgesehen von der mitunter viel zu hohen und geknödelten Stimme, kann er seinen rheinischen Akzent nur selten unterdrücken. Und man stelle sich das mal vor: Ein Panther im indischen Dschungel, der frisch aus dem Ruhrpott eingeflogen zu sein scheint! Bei den ersten Worten habe ich noch einen Lachanfall gekriegt, doch der Film ist ja mit keiner Faser als Parodie konzipiert. Król ist eine solch offensichtliche Fehlbesetzung, dass ich überzeugt bin, die Verantwortlichen müssen am Vorabend kräftig gebechert und den Vertrag mit einem Restalkohol von mindestens 5 Promille unterschrieben haben. Oder vielleicht hat Król ihnen ja etwas dafür gezahlt, das wäre auch noch plausibel. Wie auch immer: Das hätte nie im Leben so veröffentlicht werden dürfen! Aber die hiesigen Verantwortlichen scheinen dem Wahn verfallen, wie im Original bekannte Namen zu brauchen - dort wird Bagheera von niemand geringerem als Sir Ben Kingsley gesprochen! Trotzdem ist eine passende Stimme wichtiger als ein bekannter Name. Ich kann daher nur hoffen, dass sich viele Mitstreiter finden, die ebenfalls ihre Meinung kundtun und die Synchro-Firmen sowie die Verleihe umdenken lassen: Sucht künftig bitte die passende Stimme, ganz gleich wie bekannt oder unbekannt der Sprecher sein mag! BITTE! Für Käufer der Scheibe bedeutet das wiederum, dass man sich den Film wenn irgend möglich in Englisch ansehen sollte: Da wirken die Stimmen um WELTEN besser! Deshalb auch kein Abzug in der Wertung ...

Disney has done it again! Attention to detail at every step of the journey. A completely absorbing movie with believable creatures and lovable good guys. There are sudden turns along the way (bad guys), so parents must review movie first for the younger kids to know when to "hide your eyes" at scary parts. A Great Movie! Even for adults. Guess I'm just a young kid at heart. Len

Una muy buena película en cuanto a efectos visuales como actuaciones, las voces de los personajes son geniales disfrutar de Bill Murray, Walken, Johansson y Kingsley. Excelente imagen y extras.

Love, love, loved this movie. Animation/graphics are unbelievable! Almost seemed like parts were in 3-D (the picture pops right out at you). My husband and I were very impressed and will watch this many more times over the years with our child. Now one of my favourite movies ever!!!!