The Jungle Book

Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

I didn't have high hopes for this based on the ho-hum trailer and my instinctual apathy towards Disney recycling their past hits into present hits with a shiny CGI gloss, but the lowered expectations may have helped me appreciate this more. It's a simple (classic) story well told, with groundbreaking animation and environment design. How this movie doesn't qualify as animated I don't know, given that 99% of what's on screen only exists on a computer hard drive. The voice actors are well cast and enliven the old characters, especially Bill Murray as the loveable lazy Baloo, with the exception of Christopher Walken as a menacing Louie: His interpretation of a song lacks spark, and his New York accent and glaring Walkenness are a huge distraction. Though this is based much more on Disney's classic cartoon than on Rudyard Kipling's books, it draws some new inspiration from the latter and pays due respect. This remake might be unnecessary, but it's still well done and enjoyable.

− May 10, 2016 • more by Scott • log in or create an account to reply

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Erik Bates: “It ruled.”

I fully did not expect to like this one as much as I did. I didn't see much about it prior, and truth be told, I don't know the original story or the old cartoon, other than there being something about a talking bear.

Neel Sethi did a fantastic job playing Mowgli, and the voice acting for the animals was top-notch, as well.

Can I just say how much I love Ben Kingsley?

− December 12, 2016 • more by Erik • log in or create an account to reply

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