At
first, I wasn’t quite sure about this movie.
Realistic-looking CGI animals that talk rarely come off that well, and I
didn’t remember enough of the original movie (other than the famous songs and
the freaky snake) to recall if the story was that much to write home
about. In the end, though, the effects
looked so impressive and the voice cast was so enticing that I had to see
it. And I’m glad I did!
The
jungle holds the only life Mowgli has ever known. Raised by wolves since infancy, this “man
cub” loves his world and the animals who inhabit it, even as he feels the
weight of not quite fitting in. When his
life is threatened by the tiger Shere Khan, who thinks that Mowgli, as a human,
is their natural enemy, the boy is led on a journey toward the “man village,”
where his friends believe he’ll be safe.
Along the way, he has a number of adventures as he travels to leave his
home and contemplates where he really belongs.
At some
point, I probably ought to stop being impressed by what visual effects can do,
but I doubt that day will come any time soon.
After all, I’m still amazed by how well multiple versions of Tatiana
Maslany are placed and interact in the same shot on Orphan Black, and that’s a BBC America production. This, on the other hand, is Disney we’re
talking about, and you know they know
what they’re doing. The CGI animals look
astoundingly lifelike (and their moving lips when they talk stop feeling weird
within the first few minutes of the film,) and the CGI jungle is as gorgeous as
it is unbelievable.
But
while awesome effects can blow me away, that’s not what I ultimately go to
movies for. I’m in it for the story, and
the film delivers awfully well on that front too, more than I was
expecting. Like I said, it’s been far
too long since I’ve seen the animated movie to remember much about it, but I’m
pretty sure that the two stories are fairly different. From what I recall of the original, this one
is a lot more sophisticated, with interesting themes that I’ll go into more on
another day. The plot is straightforward
but well done, a nice rendering of a coming-of-age/journey story. Likewise, none of the characters are
especially complicated, but they’re used to good effect in service of the
narrative, and Mowgli has a fine arc with lots of heart.
Newcomer
Neel Sethi plays our lead man cub, and while his greenness is definitely felt,
he carries the film laudably. His Mowgli
can be obstinate or pestery, but he’s also brave, curious, and clever, and I
like watching him try to figure himself out.
As for our animal characters, the voice cast is packed with goodness: Bill Murray as Baloo and Christopher Walken
as King Louie are the biggest and most obvious “gets,” but we get terrific work
from Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Giancarlo Esposito as well. Yes, please!
Warnings
Some
big-time scary moments for kids.
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