Rudyard Kipling’s timeless tale - The Jungle Book has come ALIVE with immense efforts of Jan Favreau and his tech wizardry team. If you have enjoyed Jungle Book during 90’s in India then this definitely a throwback to your childhood. Present day technology has really filled in the gap for missing animation wonders. Mowgli acted by Neel Sethi is the only living entity in this live-action CGI broth but when you consider Bagheera, Baloo, Kaa, Shere Khan and others in this story, they all seem real by the end of the show.
The CGI is no more a gimmick work that is used for some parts of the movie but Favreau made it an integral part of it. His team of wiz-techs puffed life in all the characters. Right from their sinuous walk to the way they talk, their eyes and loping; you will forget that these are created by some graphic artists – they are so real.
Just like all the characters are made real, the jungle too, looks very much like a sanctum with colours of sunrise, happy moments, sometimes dark place filled with fear; yet a home. The close detailing on all the jungle features is done with utter precision making the jungle filled with predators lurking at every corner and then, the mood just sets in.
The story holds true to Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book – about an abandoned man-cub found by panther Bagheera(Ben Kingsley) some years ago. He brings the child to pack of wolves which is headed Akela(Giancarlo Esposito) and Raksha(Lupita Nyong’o) brings him up with her own cubs. As the dry season approaches in the jungle and water truce is called upon, all the small animals drink water from the river. But then the scarred-culprit Shere Khan demands that Mowgli must be given to him as per jungle law, if man-cub doesn’t become his supper then he will attack the wolves.
To guard Mowgli’s life Bagheera decides to take him to a village on boundaries of the jungle where humans live. On their journey across the jungle, Mowgli gets to meet slacker sloth-bear Baloo(Bill Murray), hypnotic serpent Kaa(Scarlett Johansson) and ginormous King Louie(Christopher Walken).
The voice work done is completely commendable, maybe actors were trained to emote the camera or this comes naturally to them because Idris Elba’s voice sends a thrill down the spine when you first hear him, the menace in his voice is wicked. Ben Kingsley or Bagheera who is a father-figure to Mowgli, is a narrator and a wise panther. Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walker have been spectacular in their roles and really would have loved to see them more with their tricks.
The best duo in this movie is Baloo and Mowgli, their friendship makes for the heart of the movie. A sloth bear Baloo, totally a slacker, would do anything to get a job done, because he is a “sloth”. Bill Murray’s crazy comic timing is definitely is a blessing for Baloo, his lazy dialogue delivery fits perfectly for our sloth bear. Baloo is the comic relief in the movie, and so gets all the best dialogues. The duo also gets to sing Bare Necessities song bringing more love to them. All the actors’ voices make the creatures’ real-life with emotions. In short, perfect selection of voice cast.
The real celebrity of all is, Neel Sethi, our Mowgli. An Indian-American with a natural camera presence was a tough one to find, if we believe Favreau. Neel does amazingly well in all the stunts or actions like running away from Shere Khan or brazing through the trees. Sometimes, he does rush through his dialogues, but who can blame him, he is talking to and acting with animation dummies.
The Jungle Book by Jan Favreau definitely takes me back to my childhood days sitting in front of TV, tuning in to Doordarshan and ogling at the screen. To my happiness, Disney went an extra mile and put a new-age anthem in this movie for Gulzar’s ‘Chaddi pehen ke phool khila hai’, which makes it even more nostalgic. This Jungle Book has a different tone, edgier and much more to offer but it doesn’t kill the old flavor of 90’s.
It is definitely a movie to watch with kids to show them the glimpse of our childhood cartoons. Better make it sure to prepare them for some awe and shock moments. This is an adventure and coming-of-tale, it’s no longer cute and cuddly like before but a tale of survival. Now, it is definitely, a jungle out there; which u may never want to leave.