Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Neel Sethi, Sir Ben Kinsgley, Idris Elba, Bill Murray, Lupita N’yongo and Scarlett Johansson
If you grew up in the 90s, The Jungle Book is not only just another CG-filled movie, but also your entire childhood captured in 105 minutes. Jon Favreau’s adaptation of the much loved Rudyard Kipling book is filled with marvellous CG effects and perfect screenplay. For the ones who have no idea about the story, in simple words, it’s about an orphaned man-cub brought up by a pack of wolves (Akela and Raksha) in a jungle, who’s being sent back to the humans’ village to save him from the evil tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba).
Mowgli, (Neel Sethi) the child hero is the only human character in the movie. Though at times he looks stiff against the heavy duty CG effects, he has a done great job in his debut. The screen is lively with gigantic Jungle animals and 10 minutes into the movie you feel connected as they speak perfect English! What follows is a tale of animal-human relationship, both good and evil.
With millions of dollars and a popular story, Favreau has made sure Jungle Book is king-size and the most adult version of the book. The animals look flawless and right into character. Special mention to King Louie’s song, “I wanna be like you” in Christopher Wallen’s voice which is just terrific. The second half is fast-paced and keeps you on the edge. The funniest moments creep in when Baloo (Bill Murray) enters the movie. Bare Necessities in his voice is every child’s lullaby at its best.
The lush green forests, perfect voices for the characters and absolutely clean photo-realism keeps you interested till the end. Shere Khan’s (Idris) fear-inducing, Bageera’s (Ben Kingsley) assertive & Kaa’s (Scarlett) sexy killer voices are worth a mention. Kudos to the team that worked on the closing titles, it’s one of the best we’ve ever seen.
Rating: 4 stars
Verdict: It’s a must watch! Once you watch the movie you will know why the Censor Board has given it a U/A rating. It’s quite justified and it’s no way every kid’s movie!
Written by: Deepa Kalukuri
