Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: Jon Favreau, Walt Disney Pictures, PG, 106 Minutes.
Rudyard Kipling’s timeless tale of Mowgli the man-cub orphan raised by wolves in the Indian jungle is beautifully told and spectacularly brought to the big screen by ‘Lion King’ director and actor Jon Favreau using some remarkable visual imagery.
Making his screen debut as Mowgli is newcomer Neel Sethi, appearing in the opening scenes in a lush-green jungle shot with his black panther companion Bagheera (voiced by Ben Kingsley – ‘Self/Less’) who also acts as a narrator throughout the movie.
After re-joining his family of wolves, which includes his adoptive wolf mother Raksha (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o – ‘Black Panther’), Mowgli is told of an impending threat from the already spurned tiger Shere Khan (voiced by Idris Elba – ‘The Dark Tower’).
To avoid being caught Mowgli must reluctantly leave his beloved jungle, escorted by Bagheera, and together they begin their trek back to his own people in the man village.
Along the way Mowgli is briefly separated from his panther companion before being saved by the good-natured bear Baloo (voiced by Bill Murray – ‘St Vincent’) from the devious and ulterior motives of the softly-spoken snake Kaa (voiced by Scarlett Johansson – ‘Lucy’).
Upon rewarding Baloo for saving his life, Mowgli is accompanied by Baloo for the remaining journey only to be kidnapped by monkeys and taken to their leader-the huge ape King Louie (voiced by Christopher Walken – ‘Performance’) inside a broken-down building.
Once Mowgli has escaped from Louie’s clutches he is reunited with Bagheera and told of the dreadful tragedy befallen his wolf family; wasting little time Mowgli immediately heads home together with Bagheera and Baloo to challenge the scourge of the jungle Shere Khan in a deadly confrontation.
With Mowgli being the only real-life character in the entire movie Favreau has adopted both motion-capture and photorealistic techniques for the celebrated cast involved in voicing the key animals such as Elba, Kingsley, Johansson, Murray and Walken.
To his credit Favreau’s enjoyable storyline is further enhanced by the superb techniques used in bringing the amazing animals to life making this latest live-action adaptation of ‘The Jungle Book’ the best rendition ever-and a movie not be missed.
The Jungle Book is to be televised on 7FLIX on Friday 28 May at 6.30p.
Vic’s Verdict: 4 ½ Stars
