Movie Review 030 the Jungle Book [April 15 2016]

Disney's the Jungle Book [041516] 3.5/5

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Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a boy who was raised by the Indian wolves Raksha (Lupita Nyong'o) and Akela (Giancarlo Esposito). When the fearsome Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) threatens his life, Mowgli leaves his jungle home. Guided by Bagheera the black panther (Ben Kingsley) and Baloo the bear (Bill Murray), he sets out on a journey of self-discovery. Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who do not exactly have his best interests at heart-including Kaa (Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (Christopher Walken), an orangutan-resembling Gigantopithecus^[1] who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly "red flower" (fire).

(Director Jon Favreau [Iron Man 3 & Chef], Writer Justin Marks (screenplay) & Rudyard Kipling (book), Budget $250 Millions -> Box Office $682> Millions, Duration 1hr 45mn, Rating PG, Genre - Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Fully Rendered World, Talking Animals)

"A successful combination of the original book and its animated adaptation that is brought to life by the photo realistic world and especially the animals, with the only human lead carry the heavy burden by himself and supported by the amazingly casted and performed voice actors." 

+ Faithful adaptation by successfully blends the original book with the classic Disney's animated version, cherrypicking the best of both worlds and translate the most viable combinations into this iteration completes with the signature songs and music and the more serious tone of the written story
+/- Stellar peformances of well known actors as the voices behind the characters that are perfectly casted with a few standouts such as Idris Elba and Bill Murray as Shere Khan and Baloo although a mere cameo for Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, with the engaging first time feature child actor deserves the highest praise because of his humane performance basically in front of nothingness
+/- Almost photo realistic recreation of all the animals and the jungles as well that are used skillfully and smartly to portray a fully tactile, breathing world for the only human protagonist to seamlessly delve into, especially when almost all of them are made from scratch and digitally created around him although the look of uncanny valley, the still present sheen of CG and talking animals with voices of well known actos could be a deterrent for others
+ Wonderful direction of the movie with a nice balance of tone and characters that emphasizes the strong bond of family and friendship under the strain of normalcy and prejudice as well as the inclusion of the much beloved soundtrack from the animated adaptation but toning it down just enough to fit this more realistic iteration