Disney sure loves them some talking animals, especially those that
deliver a powerful message. As Zootopia continues to be a force at the box
office, the Mouse House has dazzled us once more with the ultimate
"talking animal" film, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. While they
already boast what had been the definitive adaptation with their 1967 animated
classic, that perception may be about to change. Jon Favreau, who directed a
pair of Iron Man films and other visual spectacles,
brings Kipling's jungle adventure to life with a technical wizardry only
exceeded by the genuine emotion he's able to evoke from this artificial animal
kingdom.
Favreau doesn't muck around with the nuts
and bolts of Kipling's story too much, except that the tone is decidedly
darker. In fact, it's pretty damned scary at times and the stakes are much
greater than seen in the animated film. It makes for a more mature story, but
there's also enough humor and light-hearted fun that everybody will have
something to love. Newcomer Neel Sethi plays "man cub" Mowgli, raised
in the jungle by black panther Bagheera (voiced by Ben Kingsley, who does
"wizened old man" better than anyone) and a wolf pack led by Akela
(Giancarlo Esposito) and Raksha (Lupita Nyong'o). But there's danger in the
form of tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba), who wishes to devour Mowgli before he
can become a man, as man is no friend of the jungle. In order to keep Mowgli
safe, Bagheera takes him on a journey to the village where men live and wield
the destructive power of the fiery "red flower".
So basically this is like the anti-Life
of Pi, where the tiger and man are totally at odds rather than relying on
one another for survival. Forget Scar, Shere Khan is the most fearsome cat in
Disney's vast array of villains. The interesting thing about Kipling's
story, adapted here by Justin Marks, is that Khan isn't necessarily wrong. The
animals all live by a certain agreed upon code, that man does not belong in the
jungle. Khan's brutal tactics, spurred on by a burn he suffered at the hands of
man years earlier, are what separates him from the other peace-loving
creatures. And those creatures include the fun-loving, mischievous bear Baloo
(voiced with sarcastic glee by Bill Murray), who befriends Mowgli and teaches
him the "bear necessities". The scenes with them together are the
film's highlight, and of course the familiar song is also a part of it. There
are only two key songs that Favreau chose to include, the other is the
Vaudevillian "I Wanna Be Like You" featuring a scat-tastic Christopher
Walken as massive orangutan King Louie, and perhaps it would have been better
to include a few more. While the two songs are great (both will be stuck in
your head for days, trust me) and the performances wonderful, they don't arrive
until well past the halfway point and don't necessarily fit with the story's
darker tone. There are multiple times when Mowgli faces certain death,
like a terrifying encounter with the serpent Kaa (seductively voiced by
Scarlett Johansson), and other times when beloved characters suffer at the
claws of Khan.
While the story remains mostly intact,
there are a few changes that alter the course of the story. One involves
elephants and their place at the top of the jungle hierarchy, seen almost as
god-like in their majesty. One of the film's most beautiful, sincerely touching
scenes involves Mowgli and the emotional connection he forms with the pack of
elephants. Favreau, aided by cinematographer Bill Pope and Peter Jackson's WETA
Digital, captures the serenity and danger of the jungle. Every scene bristles
with vibrant colors and energy, right down to the tiniest detail. That the vast
majority of it was captured in a studio somewhere and on somebody's laptop
computer is incredible; you'll feel as if you're really swinging from the trees
racing a bunch of thieving monkeys.
It's hard to imagine a film that can do
justice to Kipling's story better than Favreau's The Jungle Book has done. Others will try, of
course, including a film directed by Andy Serkis in a couple of years for
Warner Bros., but they'll find it hard to improve upon anything that Favreau
has already accomplished.
Rating: 4 out of 5
