+ Best 3D Movie of the Year + Best Animal Movie of the Year
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| The truly irresistible poster for Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book |
The Jungle Book is a new adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's (Soldiers Three (1888)) same-titled 1894 book, written by Justin Marks (Rewind (2013), TV movie) and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Jon Favreau (Elf (2003)).
Mowgli is a 'man cub', who has been raised by wolves in the Indian jungle, but the brutal tiger Shere Khan has now run out of patience and will no longer accept his presence as a non-animal in the jungle. Should Mowgli return to the humans, whom he doesn't know?
Against my initial doubts, Jungle Book proves to be an excellent retelling of the familiar, great story. The 3D animation and many wonderful animal characters are executed in a highly immersive, strikingly beautiful way that moved me quite a lot, especially in the film's beginning. The sound design also does its ample part here.
The dramatic emotionality of the film stays strong throughout and peaks more than once, which is the definitive mark of success for the film. SPOILER My personal favorite moment is the scene in which Mowgli uses his 'tricks' to save the elephant baby from a pit.
What adds to the excitement of watching Jungle Book, - especially for adults, - is that an unusually strong voice cast is assembled in it: Idris Elba (Zootopia (2016)) is fierce as Shere Khan, Christopher Walken (Gigli (2003)) as King Louie and Scarlett Johansson (The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)) as Kaa, (though her performance is restricted to a single, but very good scene), are especially excellent. Bill Murray (Lost in Translation (2003)) is, perhaps, the ensemble's biggest ace as the jovial bear Baloo.
Neel Sethi (Diwali (2013), short) makes his feature debut as a nimble, jangly Mowgli and is very cute, hitting all the right notes.
The film is a big step away from the original, beloved Disney animation, The Jungle Book (1967), which is more of a jazzy, completely upbeat favorite and perhaps Disney's most subversive film really, (and, as I understand, also very far removed from Kipling's original stories.) The new Jungle Book is a more serious adventure, - a true adventure story, - which nevertheless retains two of the former film's famous, beloved songs: The Bare Necessities and I Wan'na Be Like You. They are musical treasures and small highlights, but it is the orchestral score that drives the film musically.
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Watch the trailer for the film here
Cost: 175 mil. $
Box office: 393.7 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say
[The Jungle Book was released April 4 (El Capitan theater, Hollywood) and runs 105 minutes. It began development in 2013, with Favreau and Co. early on looking to Avatar (2009) and Life of Pi (2012) for inspiration as to the film's visual concept. It was shot entirely in LA. The animals are entirely key frame animation, assisted by loads of footage of their real counterparts in nature. Approximately 70 species are depicted in the film. Jim Henson's Creature Shop created puppets for Sethi to act against. The Jungle Book opened #1 to a 103.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it has grossed 147 mil. $ to date. It is the second PG-rated release ever (following Alice in Wonderland (2010)) to open to over 100 mil. $ domestically. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are China with 68.3 mil. $ and India with 25.5 mil. $ so far. The film has become the highest-grossing Hollywood film in India ever already. The Jungle Book is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.8 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Jungle Book?
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