Disney’s giving Rudyard Kipling’s classic novel, The Jungle Book, new life with it’s latest, visually stunning remake with a modern twist.
Singing bears, dancing monkeys, they’re all back, as is mancub Mowgli (delightful newcomer Neel Sethi) who is rescued by a black panther named Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) after his father meets a grisly end in the jungle. The wise Big Cat finds a home for the boy with a pack of wolves led by Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) and Raksha (Lupita Nyong’o) who adopt him as one of their own and attempt to teach him the code of the jungle. Though Mowgli runs with wolves (and howls with them too) he can’t seem to shake his pesky human nature.
A brutal drought forces jungle inhabitants to declare a truce as they share a communal watering hole which is where our protagonist first meets his dastardly foe, the menacing, man-hating tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) who demands Mowgli’s head once the temporary peace ends with the coming rains./p>
To protect his pack, Mowgli’s forced to leave the jungle with Bagheera leading him to a human village more suitable and safe for the young boy, something he fears, since he knows absolutely nothing about humans.
While trekking, Mowgli makes friends with a honey-obsessed bear named Baloo (Billy Murray at his comedic best), and some less than friendly acquaintances: a seductively sly snake called Kaa (rasped with effect by Scarlett Johansson) and the giant ape King Louie (Christopher Walken working his best Godfather impression).
Mowgli’s encounter with King Louie is where the film journeys into territory its predecessors — mainly Disney’s earlier animated film — failed to explore in depth. While at The Jungle Book’s core is a tale of a young boy searching for his place in the world, Jon Favreau’s beautiful epic also speaks to man’s penchant for destruction.
We learn that the “red flower” King Louie desperately tries to obtain from Mowgli is fire. In Disney’s original film, lightning strikes a tree causing sparks to erupt and Shere Khan to flee in fear. In Favreau’s take, it is Mowgli himself who brings fire to the jungle. When he seeks to use the red flower to destroy his enemy, his good intentions result in devastating consequences for his home. It’s environmental commentary at its most subtle and effective.
Of course, what makes The Jungle Book so good isn’t just its plot or underlying themes but its vividly engaging visuals. Favreau and company transport us into the jungle from the opening credits and the amount of energy and time that must’ve gone into making these CGI creatures seem real on the big screen doesn’t unnoticed. Even if you’re not a fan of 3D, this is one movie that deserves to be seen through those bulky glasses.
Though some elements are too dark and potentially frightening for a small children–mainly, Mowgli’s encounter with the slithering snake Kaa and Shere Khan’s proclivity for violence earn the film its PG rating–The Jungle Book is a movie both adults and kids will enjoy.
