Disney’s The Jungle Book Movie Review | by tiffanyyong.com
Recommended Audience: Fans of Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyongo’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Neel Sethi, Christopher Walken and Disney movie fans
Disney’s The Jungle Book Movie Synopsis
“The Jungle Book” is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub raised in the jungle by a family of wolves, who embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery when he’s forced to abandon the only home he’s ever known.
Disney’s The Jungle Book Movie Viewer Rating: 4.5/5 ****
Disney’s The Jungle Book Movie Review:
Most of my friends know that I’m not a fan of animation, but with a combination of childhood memories, several great reviews and of course, the only human in the film, I watched the film in the end. Well, I’m not disappointed.
In the filming industry, kids and animals are the two most difficult “things” to work with, and yes, in the Jungle Book, you have both of them and they made up the whole film. The lucky thing is, there is only one kid involved with imaginary animals. I am impressed with how Neel Sethi interact with every single one of them, be it chatting, arguing or even crying, they are very real. There were many moments where I thought he was behaving beyond his age (say sacrificing himself for the safety of the pack of wolves?)
The effects was jaw-droppping. Actually, what effects? They all looked so real! These can’t be CGI, they must be real stuff! Yes, it is that impressive. The animals, the plants and the scenery, they were are amazing.
The 2016 has adapted the best parts from the previous versions, and I had to say, the music here was pretty cute. It most probably wouldn’t go viral like “Let it go” in Frozen, but the pure innocent happiness when young Mowgli sang the song made you want to stay there (in the forest) with all the animals.
With faint memories of the cartoon version, aided by images from Google, I had to say the best part (though not child-friendly) was how realistic the characters were. The ruthless tiger called Shere Khan, the fatherly Bagheera, the lazy Sloth Bear Baloo and sneaky Python Kaa, together with the flawless voiceover, I won’t be surprise if the children start trying to talk to the animals in the zoo after watching the film.
Watch it and love it 🙂
Do You Know?
Over 2,000 children auditioned for the part of Mowgli. Newcomer Neel Sethi won the part in first audition and his first acting role. Mowgli has a scar on the right side of his chest which appears to be the letter “r” and also has a scar on his left shoulder which is a “k”. This is a nod to the original author Rudyard Kipling, where the “R” and “K” are the author’s initials.
Actors Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber’s sons Sasha and Kai make their film debut in the movie as little wolves. Director Jon Favreau’s children also appear in the movie.
This is the first time that Kaa the Snake is portrayed as a female (Scarlett Johansson), rather than a male. Jon Favreau said the change was a deliberate one, as he felt there were too many male characters in The Jungle Book (1967).
The scene where Shere khan is standing on a dead tree telling Mowgli that he will devour him or the red flower will is a deleted scene in the original jungle book.
All the locations in the film are computer-generated VFX. The story may have been set primarily in India, but the film was completely shot at the LA Center Studio in Los Angeles, California. Remote jungle locations in India were photographed and used as reference for the jungle environment in the film. The talking animals in this film were created using animal behavior, then having the actors copy those movements in motion-capture VFX.
The CG character Baloo is so large and furry, he took almost five hours of rendering time per frame.
King Louie was created for Disney’s animated Jungle Book, and it was reimagined as a gigantopithecus, a very large ancestor of orangutans who are believed to have lived in parts of India.
Behind The Scenes and Interviews
Check out Disney’s The Jungle Book Movie Official Website and Facebook Page!
Disney’s The Jungle Book Movie is out in cinemas on 7 April 2016.
xoxo
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*Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for the movie review.
1/2 of #TheEpiphanyDuplet, Tiffany Yong juggles her ABCs – Acting, Blogging and Coaching/Consulting as she is fuelled by passion and drive to succeed.
It is not easy to make a living in Singapore just purely based on Acting, so with Blogging to help her with her online presence, and Coaching kids drama, private tutoring and freelance social media consulting to finance her life, she is currently leading the life most people hope to have: Living the Dream!
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They do look so real. It’s nice to see The Jungle Book redone in today’s technology and reintroduce to a new generation.
My whole family are now planning to watch this movie. By the way, when I’m in my young days I don’t like jungle book, but as I saw the video now..it really change my perception. Thanks a lot for this.
Haha! I love the new touch of making the bear sing. Grew up watching Jungle Book, always a classic movie. Just wondering if this generation will ever get to see the cartoon part aside from the animated movie? Always fresh watching Mowgli over and over again tho!
I saw the trailer a week before and was super impressed by the acting of this child. The VFX are amazing aren’t they?
I still remember the cartoon version of it. It was absolutely lovable. For the new generation kids, I think this movie is a must-watch.
It reminds me of my childhood and this was probably the only show for kids to enjoy. Waiting to watch it.
I remember the original Jungle Book and sang the Bare Necessities along with Baloo and Mowgli. I have yet to see the new one and I’m really looking forward to taking my 4yr old to see it.
I love the kid who played Mowgli. Really awesome movie. i wanna watch it again!
watched this and i can’t believe they made the bear sing. hahahaha! i prefer the cartoon version of mowgli though.
I don’t remember if you commented on my own review of this film. We gave it the same score. The child Sethi is very impressive considering that he was the only living thing in the whole movie.
its been months since I last watch a film with my kid and this film is a must watch movie for us. ive known jungle book story since I was a kid and its fun to share stories with my kid about this film
I haven’t seen it yet! Hopefully soon. I am a fan, have read the book and watched the animated film from way back. Glad they made this movie! So excited to see it!
The Jungle Book is a classic I think everyone has watched the previous animated film. I was surprised when I heard about a live-action remake and I didn’t expect it to be this big. It’s definitely a movie that will melt you heart.
Neel Sethi’s performance here will really pave the way to stardom. It’s amazing how he was able to act even with all the imagined sceneries, most of the time even talking to just puppets.
This movie looks so touching and the kid is so talented and brave to star in a film like this! 🙂
I’ve watched the older version when I was still a kid. I want to watch this new version. It does look real!
I’ve watched the cartoon version and liked it.I love that Kaa is portrayed as female in this film. I’m looking forward to watching it.
I’ve grown up watching Jungle Book and used to sing its jingle often. Very emotionally attached to the story. I should watch the film…