The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book
A man-cub named Mowgli fostered by wolves. After a threat from the tiger Shere Khan, Mowgli is forced to flee the jungle, by which he embarks on a journey of self discovery with the help of the panther, Bagheera and the free-spirited bear, Baloo.
Ryezoo reviewedFebruary 20, 2025
Disney continues to do no wrong with the continued adaption of its animated classics. Director Jon Favreau made a great film where everything comes together perfectly. The visuals are stunning, the voice cast is spot on, and the nostalgia works.
When you watch this movie you need to keep in mind that this whole picture was filmed on a soundstage in LA. Everything looks so realistic and nearly impossible to tell. The animals are also photo-realistic. This is technologically that is far more impressive than Avatar.
It's hard to distinguish who does the best voice work because they all are standouts. Bill Murray as Baloo gives the film most of it's humor and as soon as he's introduced the film just surges with energy. Ben Kingsley (Bagheera) and Idris Elba(Shere Khan) fulfill the role of mentor and villain. Worth noting, there's a high chance for little children to be terrified by Shere Khan. Last to mention of the voice actors is Christopher Walken and Scarlett Johansson, both are great but hardly in the movie. Especially Johansson who is in the film for about two minutes.
In a film full of cgi talking animals, the soul human actor is Neel Sethi as Mowgli. It's an impressive feat for having a kid act alone the entire film but I didn't buy into his performance as a whole. Easily the weakest part of the movie.
The nostalgia is strong with this film. As a fan of the original animation it was great seeing things replicated in live action. I found the inclusion of the songs from the original fun but felt slightly outta place from the rest of the film. Forgivable since the songs were the best ones from the animated movie.
There's a lot of fun to be had here and defiantly worth going to see in the theaters.