The Jungle Book came out the week of April 15th and I managed to see it when I was in the UK. I tried to write a review, but lets face it, when you’re traveling there’s more important things to do. I got a Future Flicks post out because it’s not that hard to write a few thoughts next to a poster, but I didn’t do any actual reviews. So now that I’m back, it’s time to get going. This blog is going to be a Disney Double Feature because I also saw Zootopia and I realized that both movies are still going strong in theaters. Even with Captain America: Civil War coming out next week I have a feeling both of these movies are going to stay through next month. So here are my reviews.
When I first learned that Disney was remaking The Jungle Book, I prepared myself for a halfhearted attempt to cover up a money grab. I’m cynical when it comes to Disney. So sue me. Then I learned of all the celebrities lending their voices to the movie and I started to think it may have some hope. Then I learned the it was being helmed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Chef) and then I breathed a sigh of relief. This was going to be, at the very least, entertaining. And I was right.
There hasn’t been a live action attempt at The Jungle Book since 1994 when Stephen Sommers (The Mummy series) directed a movie with Jason Scott Lee (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story) as Mowgli and also starring Cary Elwes (Princess Bride, Saw), Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), Sam Neill (Jurrasic Park), and John Cleese (Monty Python). Mind you, there were two live action follow up movies, but the most famous Jungle Book has been the 1967 animated version that we all know and love. So even though no one asked for one, they gave us a remake. At least a good chunk of time passed. Unlike between Spider-Man movies
The Jungle Book is a collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling and includes more than just the tale of the man cub Mowgli, it also includes the famous story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. The movie is made up of about three or four of those stories which is why Disney could make an hour and forty-six minute movie out of it. This film is only missing one or two of them and since it’s been over twenty years since I’ve read them, I can’t speak to how much new content was added. Either way, the movie felt natural and flowed nicely. I do know that some of the parts of the stories were swapped around and didn’t hamper the movie at all. While the stories felt episodic due to their short story and flash fiction nature, the movie had a nice uninterrupted flow. Even new character and subplot was introduced naturally and it was all pieced together quite well.
Neel Sethi who plays Mowgli, was fantastic. Critics are raving about how great he is and they’re absolutely right. I think he could do great things, but the problem is that there aren’t a lot of dramatic roles for someone his age. As for the voice actors, they did a good job. This script was more demanding than Zootopia, which I’ll talk about below, so it called for better performances. Idris Elba (Luthor, Thor) was amazing as Shere Khan and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave, Star Wars: Episode VII) gave a great performance as well. Everyone else did a good job too but the one issue I had was with how they were billed. Scarlett Johansson got billed over Neel Sethi, Christopher Walken (Everything. He’s been in everything), and Giancario Esposito (Breaking Bad, Once Upon a Time), all who had bigger roles than her. If any of you remember the cartoon, Kaa has a bit part in the movie. This all comes down to the politics of Hollywood. I won’t go off on a rant here, but all I’ll say about it is that the only reason she was mentioned so much is due to her bankablility.
CG in movies is still an oddly difficult thing to get right. There have been quite a few times in recent movies where the CG was obvious. This time, however, the CG was great. It wasn’t flawless but it was constantly good which helped me get immersed in the world. There was a real sense of danger from Shere Khan, King Louie, and Kaa. Baloo looked like an actual bear and Akela and Raksha looked like wolves, just bigger. That’s an interesting tidbit of information. Favreau wanted everything bigger to add a sense a fantasy to the film… as if talking animals raising a boy in the jungle wasn’t fantasy enough, so he made some changes. Bagheera is twice the size of a normal panther, King Louie is as big as a temple, and the wolves looked like they’re prehistoric. It all helped make this immersive world where viewers could get lost in as they watched the adventures of Mowgli the man cub.
This was a really good movie and they did the stories justice. This was the remake I didn’t even know I wanted. It’s still going strong in theaters so if you haven’t seen it yet I recommend you to. If you don’t like crowds then go see this when the rest of the world is watching Captain America: Civil War and then go see that when everything has calmed down.
The Jungle Book gets a 9 out of 11
This movie came out on March 4th and I missed it. I only managed to see it when I was in the UK because dinner, movie, and a nice stroll makes for a great date. I wasn’t even going to write a review because I was so late but as of writing this, Zootopia is still playing in a lot of theaters around America. So, here’s a review anyway. If you miss it in theaters then just keep this in mind for when it’s out on video.
I saw this movie in Wales where it was called Zootropolis, as you could probably tell by the above image. I wanted to know why and according to all the articles and blogs I read about it, the reason is…. preference. Normally when a title is changed it’s to avoid confusion with another title in that country. Avengers was changed to Avengers Assemble because of the 1960’s show Avengers about John Steed and Emma Peel being spies. You may remember the 1998 movie starring Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery, and Eddie Izzard. But in the case of Zootopolis, Disney said that they renamed it because British people would like that title more (I paraphrased). What probably happened was that Zootropolis tested better than Zootopia. End of story.
You already know it was good. Even if you haven’t seen it you know that most critics gave it great reviews and it was all over TV, but there’s more to this story. Zootopia(tropolis) was a really good movie that could have been better. This could have been the best Disney movie ever. However, it felt like they put more emphasis on showcasing their beautiful animation instead of developing the story. It wasn’t a bad story. But it was more predictable than a rerun of NCIS. This won’t bother kids at all because they’re not familiar enough with movie tropes nor do they have enough films under their belts to see what’s coming. If you have a kid and you haven’t seen this movie yet, then just go see it. They’ll love it. If you’re an adult thinking of seeing it on your own, then keep reading.
Zootopia is a great example of what I always talk about. If a movie is fun enough I’m willing to overlook problems. The story was unoriginal and uninspired but it was full of great jokes for all ages. The jokes for the adults were a little more subtle so there was nothing inappropriate for children, but you already knew that because this is a Disney movie. I may have seen everything coming but that didn’t stop me from caring about the characters. I was still invested in what was going on and that is an impressive feat. Normally if a story is too easy then an audience will lose interest, but that wasn’t the case here. I didn’t look at my watch even once.
All the voice actors did a good job and it was fun trying to guess who each actor was. Some of them were really obvious and there were some that I had to sit through the credits to find out who was who. I find it hard to judge voice acting. Did they read the line the way it was supposed to be delivered? Yes? Then yay! I know that there’s more to it than that, it isn’t easy. Everyone should check out the documentary called I Know That Voice because it’s a great insight into the world of voice acting. It could also be that the story is less demanding then, say, Princess Mononoke or Futurama . Either way, the acting was good but there were no scenes that blew me away.
All in all Zootopia is well worth a watch but unless you want to see it in 3D or you have a child you want to take, wait for DVD, Blu-ray, or streaming.
Zootopia gets an 8 out of 11