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Disney revisits Rudyard Kipling in "The Jungle Book," a (sorta) live-action retelling of the studio's classic 1967 animated tale that finds action, adventure, drama and laughs — all while staying true to Kipling's stories and the earlier movie.
When we meet Mowgli, played here by newcomer Neel Sethi, he is a "man cub" learning to run and hunt with the wolves. The wolfpack, led by the alpha Akela (voiced by Giancarlo Esposito) and nurtured by Raksha (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o), protects Mowgli from the jungle's dangers — which is why the wise panther Bagheera (voiced by Ben Kingsley) placed him with the pack when he was a baby. But when the tiger Shere Khan (voiced by Idris Elba) comes prowling, demanding the pack give the man cub to him, Bagheera knows he must take Mowgli back to the man village.
Mowgli, however, doesn't want to go. Once separated from Bagheera, he first encounters the hypnotic python Kaa (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) before being rescued by and befriending Baloo (voiced by Bill Murray), the lackadaisical bear. He also gets captured by the monkey minions of the supersized gigantopithecus King Louie (voiced by Christopher Walken), who wants Mowgli to give him the one item that separates man from animals — the "red flower," known to humans as fire.
Director Jon Favreau ("Iron Man," "Elf") manages to pay homage to the animated version — the last cartoon feature Walt Disney himself shepherded before his death in 1966 — and set his movie apart from it. He sets a serious tone from the beginning, highlighting Mowgli's life with the wolves (something the '67 version skipped).
On the other hand, the movie gives Murray and Sethi a few verses of "The Bare Necessities" and gives Walken a go on "I Want to Be Like You" that is nearly as cool as Louis Prima's jazzy original. (Fun fact: Richard Sherman, who co-wrote the original with his brother Robert, penned some updated lyrics to fit Louie's giant frame.) Johansson also provides a torch-song rendition of Kaa's tune "Trust in Me," but it only plays during the closing credits.
Where this "Jungle Book" really soars is the computer animation of the animals and their jungle surroundings. The movie was shot in a Los Angeles soundstage, with minimal sets on which young Sethi could frolic, and the CG wizards from Peter Jackson's Weta Digital filled in the rest with brilliant lifelike detail and a grand scope. That visual splendor ultimately puts this "Jungle Book" far above its predecessor.
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'The Jungle Book'
This remake of the Disney classic is its own animal, thanks to a fun voice cast and realistic computer animation.
Where • Theaters everywhere.
When • Opens Friday, April 15.
Rating • PG for some sequences of scary action and peril.
Running time • 105 minutes.