A 'man cub' named Mowgli has been raised in the jungle by wolves and trained in their ways. Not all of the animals in the jungle accept his presence, however, and a tiger named Shere Khan vows to kill Mowgli and anyone that stands in his way. The wolf pack argue about whether or not they should protect Mowgli, so for their safety he offers to leave the jungle. A panther named Bagheera offers to return him to the man village, but on there trek out of the jungle Shere Khan attacks and they are separated. Mowgli if then left to fend for himself in the jungle where many friends and foes await. him.
The voice cast is superb. Bill Murray is perfectly cast as the lazy bear Baloo, while Ben Kingsley for once has a more restrained role as the protective panther Bagheera, and Lupita Nyong'o is used much better here as the wold mother Raksha than her voice role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Christopher Walken is fine as the monkey King Louie, although his character suffers from attempts to re-enact the original role; if only Scarlett Johansson's Kaa, the seductive snake, suffered the same problem, as she is miscast and underused here. The standout though is Idris Elba as the menacing tiger, Shere Khan, and he easily brings to life one of Disney's scariest villains of recent history. Not to be forgotten is Neel Sethi as Mowgli, who despite having to act alongside presumably nothing but green-screens does a convincing job and is undeniably likeable.
As with their voices, the animals look stunning, but direction choices like the inclusion of animation at the beginning and the end of the film, as well as constant action sequences often makes the scenery blur throughout the film and it becomes evident the 3D market was definitely thought about while making it.
Storywise, the film improves on the original Disney classic in almost every way. Mowgli's introduction to the jungle is integrated nicely throughout a flashback by Kaa, also enabling an interesting backstory and motivation for the central villain in Shere Khan - aspects the original never bothered to develop. A lot more time is also spent with Mowgli's wolf family giving the film a much needed sense of emotion, which helps improve both the lighter, and the darker aspects of the films territory. The only disappointing, and bizarre, part was the decision to not have the elephants and monkeys (other than King Louie) talk, when every other animal in the jungle can. Although it is potentially a bit long it moves very briskly for a film that as so much going on. The ending is also very curious as Mowgli, despite becoming aware that he is a boy and will grow into a man, decides to stay with the wolf pack, although ultimately this differentiation is inconsequential to how good a film The Jungle Book is.
Rating: 3.5/5
