The Jungle Book

Cast	:	Neel Sethi
Voice Cast	:	Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken
Director	:	Jon Favreau
Cinematographer	:	Bill Pope
Screenplay	:	Justin Marks Based on The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Editor	:	Mark Livolsi
Music	:	John Debney
Producer	:	Walt Disney Pictures Fairview Entertainment
Release Date	:	April 15, 2016
Length	:	1 Hour and 25 Minutes
Language	:	English

My Thoughts

Director Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book narrates the life of Mowgli in an Indian jungle in the midst of wolves, panthers and bears. He leads a happy life as one among them until the menacing tiger, Sher Khan warns the wolves that letting a man live in jungle and nurturing him is against the laws of jungle. He threatens to hurt all the animals if Mowgli is not submitted to him as prey. The wolves under the guidance of Bagheera, the Black Panther, bids adieu to Mowgli. The movie describes the story of Mowgli during his half-hearted journey towards the man village. Does Mowgli reaches his destination – the movie answers this question through an interesting screenplay.

The screenplay is often gripping, most of the chase scenes are well-choreographed and editing is well done. The incident with Bandar-log was lagging. Bill Murray’s voice for Baloo is soothing and caring. The Baloo looks cute too – no wonder that Teddy Bears are universally loved! The sweet voice of the slithering Kaa, rendered by Scarlett Johansson is mesmerizing. The animation of the animals is commendable. They come across real and lively. The sceneries are nicely captured. The background suits the mood of the film.

However, the 3D effect is disappointing. Most of the times, it doesn’t feel like a 3D film and the huge pair of glasses remains as the only reminders of that fact. The movie is also not displayed full screen, making the view a little irritating for the audience in the corner seat. The anglicized pronunciation of the Indian names (Baloo, Bandar-log, etc.) was really irritating. The voice caste must have been trained to pronounce the Indian names in the right manner. The cinematographer should have taken care of lighting aspect. Most of the times it is too dark and doesn’t give a sense of what is being shown. Especially, the scene involving elephants and Mowgli during a night in the Jungle.

Little Neel Sethi as Mowgli looks like the Mowgli described in The Jungle Book. The voice to the animated animals are rendered by famous Hollywood stars. They instill emotions and feelings into them.

In short, the movie is less than two hours long, holds your attention and entertains you. It makes the adults nostalgic and takes them back to their childhood days. The children would surely enjoy it.

Take your friends and family along. Read The Jungle Book!

Rating

3.5/5