The Jungle Book - directed by Jon Favreau
Starring: Neel Sethi... and the voices of - Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Bill Murray, Lupita Nyong'o, Christopher Walken, Scarlett Johansson, Garry Shandling, Giancarlo Esposito, Jon Favreau, Sam Raimi, Irrfan Khan
Screenplay: Justin Marks
Music Score by: John Debney
Cinematography: Bill Pope
Edited by: Mark Livolsi
Running Time: 106 minutes
Rated: PG - Scary, tense scenes
If nothing else fans of match dissolves will love "The Jungle Book"
Or fans of CGI characters.
And fans of funny, fun, good old fashioned adventure flicks.
Jon Favreau's "The Jungle Book" is all of these things and more.
For a movie that was a 'guess I'll see it at some point' for me after the trailers hit this is a very, very nice surprise.
Disney had reportedly greenlit a sequel before this movie was released and after the advanced screening tonight I can see where their confidence comes from.
Let me explain....
Firstly- that match dissolve....
I am a sucker for these things at the best of times.
Match dissolves, match cuts and seamless blends of all sorts.
I love the opening of Marc Forster's underrated "Stranger Than Fiction" where from outer space we smoothly swoop through atmosphere and clouds, whizzing through suburbia to end up right inside Will Ferrell's IRS man's house.
And of course the dissolves that see the Paramount 'mount' logo matched to real mountains in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Last Crusade", a gong in "The Temple of Doom" and a gopher mound in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".
Well, "The Jungle Book" arguably outdoes them all with its stunning opening.
A brand new Disney castle logo is employed and a stunningly executed pull back and match dissolve puts us right into the movie.
I will not spoil it with detail but it's a fittingly visual delight for a movie that is in fact one big visual treat.
The film uses state of the art computer rendering and motion capture to create every animal - all 70 species of them.
The animals never once look less than convincing.
Even when they talk it feels and looks natural although of course by definition it isn't.
Technically this film is flawless and the effects work from Moving Picture Company and Weta Digital are worth the ticket price alone.
I am however happy to report that the other aspects of the film are similarly impressive.
Although he is the only 'real' character in the movie 11 year old actor Neel Sethi's Mowgli interacts seamlessly with the cats, wolves, monkeys, bears and other creatures.
It is hard to believe that this movie is his first ever acting gig.
He had puppets to act against courtesy of Jim Henson's creature shop (they were removed and replaced with the CGI versions later of course) but still it is impressive how convincingly Sethi acts effectively with nothing to play off.
(Be warned that 'impressive' is a word that I am sure to utilise a lot in this review)
This kid has a future in acting ahead of him for sure.
Joining him is one of the most perfectly selected casts I have seen recently.
Idris Elba plays the villainous Tiger Shere Khan with just the right balance of menace and charisma, Christopher Walken as Orangutan King Louie gets to not only play one of his normal, typically eccentric characters but belt out a song on top and Ben Kingsley is suitably majestic as the panther Bagheera- Mowgli's adoptive Father and mentor.
Jon Favreau noted the lack of female roles in the 1967 Disney animated movie of which he has long been a fan and has tweaked his version to include meatier roles for the ladies.
In this case that is Lupita Nyong'o as Mowgli's wolf Mother Raksha and Scarlett Johansson as the hissing snake Kaa.
Kaa is traditionally a male character but by casting Johansson with her softly seductive, faintly raspy voice Favreau has added a touch more subtlety to the character and an extra layer of murkiness to her intentions.
But there is a standout amongst all of these fine turns and it should come as no surprise that it is Bill Murray as the bear Baloo.
Murray took a pasting over his less than successful film "Rock the Kasbah" recently, getting some of the worst reviews of his long career.
His work here should well and truly make up for it.
As the lazy, honey loving bear Baloo he is incredible.
Not just because he is effortlessly funny - which he is- but because when called on his character is required to be by turns wise, selfless and heroic.
I loved this character.
An early scene sees him recruiting Mowgli to steal some honey from a precarious ledge and a host of smaller animals show up one by one to see what is going on.
The interaction between Murray and the assembling critters had me laughing loud and long.
It isn't all fun and games though and parents of younger children would be wise to consider the tolerance of their young ones to dark themes and intense scenes of peril.
This movie is loaded with them and there are deaths and many, many scenes of animals being hurt.
It isn't quite as gruelling as Ang Lee's "The Life of Pi" for animal lovers but it certainly doesn't hold back.
For those that are up for it this movie is going to thrill, delight and thoroughly entertain.
It is the sort of action packed adventure flick that the tv show "The Wonderful World of Disney" delivered on a regular basis when I was a young child and it is a very welcome throwback to those days.
I liked this movie a lot.
Loved it in fact.
The budget was a healthy $175,000,000 but honestly I would have believed it had I been told it was $250,000,000
That cash has bought some truly jaw dropping visual effects.
The entire film looks amazing but the animal creations are the best that I have ever seen.
They are expressive and utterly convincing. I had to frequently remind myself that they weren't 'real'.
Apart from the technically flawless (really- flawless) presentation of the world and the creatures "The Jungle Book" stands as a prime example of a family friendly movie that truly is for the entire family.
I cannot imagine what sort of film goer would not be completely won over by this film.
It is smart, funny, thrilling, engaging and an absolute left field surprise.
I was not ready for how out and out great this film is.
See it as soon as possible - preferably in 3D - it is worth it.
RATING: 84 / 100
CONCLUSION: A technical and artistic tour de force. Massive fun for anyone of any age this film is yet further evidence that Favreau is a director adept and comfortable working in any genre. An instant classic.
Starring: Neel Sethi... and the voices of - Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Bill Murray, Lupita Nyong'o, Christopher Walken, Scarlett Johansson, Garry Shandling, Giancarlo Esposito, Jon Favreau, Sam Raimi, Irrfan KhanScreenplay: Justin Marks
Music Score by: John Debney
Cinematography: Bill Pope
Edited by: Mark Livolsi
Running Time: 106 minutes
Rated: PG - Scary, tense scenes
If nothing else fans of match dissolves will love "The Jungle Book"
Or fans of CGI characters.
And fans of funny, fun, good old fashioned adventure flicks.
Jon Favreau's "The Jungle Book" is all of these things and more.
For a movie that was a 'guess I'll see it at some point' for me after the trailers hit this is a very, very nice surprise.
Disney had reportedly greenlit a sequel before this movie was released and after the advanced screening tonight I can see where their confidence comes from.
Let me explain....
Firstly- that match dissolve....
I am a sucker for these things at the best of times.
Match dissolves, match cuts and seamless blends of all sorts.
I love the opening of Marc Forster's underrated "Stranger Than Fiction" where from outer space we smoothly swoop through atmosphere and clouds, whizzing through suburbia to end up right inside Will Ferrell's IRS man's house.
And of course the dissolves that see the Paramount 'mount' logo matched to real mountains in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Last Crusade", a gong in "The Temple of Doom" and a gopher mound in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".
Well, "The Jungle Book" arguably outdoes them all with its stunning opening.
A brand new Disney castle logo is employed and a stunningly executed pull back and match dissolve puts us right into the movie.
I will not spoil it with detail but it's a fittingly visual delight for a movie that is in fact one big visual treat.
The film uses state of the art computer rendering and motion capture to create every animal - all 70 species of them.
The animals never once look less than convincing.
Even when they talk it feels and looks natural although of course by definition it isn't.
Technically this film is flawless and the effects work from Moving Picture Company and Weta Digital are worth the ticket price alone.
I am however happy to report that the other aspects of the film are similarly impressive.
 |
| Neel Sethi as Mowgli with Bagheera - voiced by Ben Kingsley |
It is hard to believe that this movie is his first ever acting gig.
He had puppets to act against courtesy of Jim Henson's creature shop (they were removed and replaced with the CGI versions later of course) but still it is impressive how convincingly Sethi acts effectively with nothing to play off.
(Be warned that 'impressive' is a word that I am sure to utilise a lot in this review)
This kid has a future in acting ahead of him for sure.
Joining him is one of the most perfectly selected casts I have seen recently.
Idris Elba plays the villainous Tiger Shere Khan with just the right balance of menace and charisma, Christopher Walken as Orangutan King Louie gets to not only play one of his normal, typically eccentric characters but belt out a song on top and Ben Kingsley is suitably majestic as the panther Bagheera- Mowgli's adoptive Father and mentor.
Jon Favreau noted the lack of female roles in the 1967 Disney animated movie of which he has long been a fan and has tweaked his version to include meatier roles for the ladies.
In this case that is Lupita Nyong'o as Mowgli's wolf Mother Raksha and Scarlett Johansson as the hissing snake Kaa.
Kaa is traditionally a male character but by casting Johansson with her softly seductive, faintly raspy voice Favreau has added a touch more subtlety to the character and an extra layer of murkiness to her intentions.
 |
| Bill Murray as Baloo is a highlight but is merely one of the many things that work so well |
Murray took a pasting over his less than successful film "Rock the Kasbah" recently, getting some of the worst reviews of his long career.
His work here should well and truly make up for it.
As the lazy, honey loving bear Baloo he is incredible.
Not just because he is effortlessly funny - which he is- but because when called on his character is required to be by turns wise, selfless and heroic.
I loved this character.
An early scene sees him recruiting Mowgli to steal some honey from a precarious ledge and a host of smaller animals show up one by one to see what is going on.
The interaction between Murray and the assembling critters had me laughing loud and long.
 |
| Idris Elba as the truly nasty, genuinely intimidating Shere Khan |
This movie is loaded with them and there are deaths and many, many scenes of animals being hurt.
It isn't quite as gruelling as Ang Lee's "The Life of Pi" for animal lovers but it certainly doesn't hold back.
For those that are up for it this movie is going to thrill, delight and thoroughly entertain.
It is the sort of action packed adventure flick that the tv show "The Wonderful World of Disney" delivered on a regular basis when I was a young child and it is a very welcome throwback to those days.
I liked this movie a lot.
Loved it in fact.
The budget was a healthy $175,000,000 but honestly I would have believed it had I been told it was $250,000,000
That cash has bought some truly jaw dropping visual effects.
The entire film looks amazing but the animal creations are the best that I have ever seen.
They are expressive and utterly convincing. I had to frequently remind myself that they weren't 'real'.
Apart from the technically flawless (really- flawless) presentation of the world and the creatures "The Jungle Book" stands as a prime example of a family friendly movie that truly is for the entire family.
I cannot imagine what sort of film goer would not be completely won over by this film.
It is smart, funny, thrilling, engaging and an absolute left field surprise.
I was not ready for how out and out great this film is.
See it as soon as possible - preferably in 3D - it is worth it.
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