The Jungle Book (2016)

Rating: 5/5

The Jungle Book reboot is an absolutely stunning visual achievement and a movie that I am very eager to watch again soon.

When a drought has taken over the jungle, all the animals come to the Peace Rock where they promise not to harm one another in order to take in some desperately needed water. When feared tiger Shere Khan (Idris Alba) arrives at the rock, the creatures cower in fear as he makes his proclamation. Shere Khan is aware of a man-cub named Mowgli (Neel Sethi), and will stop at nothing until the young human is destroyed.

Knowing that Mowgli is no longer safe with the wolves, the alpha Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) knows he needs to find a way to get the man-cub back to the humans. With the help of Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), the panther who found Mowgli as a baby, Akela sends the two off to brave the jungle, hoping they don't find any danger along the way.

If anyone wanted to view and exhibition of how impressively advanced special effects have become, they needn’t look any further than the Jungle Book. While watching this stunning piece of cinema, I found myself in awe of the detail put into every animal, from the texture of their fur to the emotion in their eyes. The story itself is compelling enough on its own, but add in the impeccable visuals, and you have something truly special. The only drawback to how realistic the animals look in the Jungle Book, is that any harm or mistreatment of them appears all the more horrific and lifelike.

The young actor who plays Mowgli embodies the legendary man-cub with spirit and fierce determination. His emotional connection with the other “animals” comes off as incredibly genuine, which could not have been easy given that every single one of his costars was created through CGI. It is his performance that aids in selling the believability of the jungle characters and their subsequent relationships, as well as being the central driving force of the plot. That’s a lot of pressure and expectation to put on the shoulders of such a young actor, but Neel Sethi appeared to be more than up to the challenge.

Voice acting can either make or break a film of this nature, and each animals’ speaker was perfectly cast, no matter how big or small the role. Look at Idris Elba’s performance as Sheer Kahn for example. The visual design of the tiger is intended to be frightening and intimidating, but if the tone of voice didn’t equal or surpass the look of the villainous cat, then the fear intended to be brought by his presence wouldn’t have near the right amount of impact. Same with Scarlett Johansson as Kaa. Her time in the film is incredibly short, but using her vocals for a hypnotic serpent is absolutely perfect. Baloo needed to be carefree and whimsical, so casting Bill Murray was the most natural choice. It is because of the wonderful auditory contributions by these actors that I found myself laughing and then on the verge of tears throughout the film because of their wonderful work in the Jungle Book.

I feel that I took far too long to watch this movie, and I really wish that I hadn’t missed my chance to see it in theaters. Jon Favreau is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors of the current age of film, and if the Jungle Book is any indication of what his live action version of the Lion King is going to be like, I have to say that I can’t wait!

2017 Best Achievement in Visual Effects Winner-The Jungle Book