Based on the books of Rudyard Kipling and the 1967 animated classic, “The Jungle Book” returns to tell the story of Mowgli (Sethi), a man-cub raised by a pack of wolves and his journey to stop the evil forces of the jungle. Hollywood A-lists voice the iconic characters and bring them to life, and among them are Bill Murray, Giancarlo Esposito, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong’O, Ben Kingsley and Cristopher Walken.
Without altering too much to the source material, director Jon Favreau and writer Justin Marks modernizes the characters to show their different personalities with a sign of respect to its original tale. However, the elements are lacking to excite, wander, or even scare, thus making the audience impact steady for the 110 minute runtime of the movie.
The Jungle Book guarantees the eye-impact of its audience, that the movie ends up being negligible. Lastly, it also poorly handles the genres of comedy, action, drama, fantasy and musical, therefore keeping the balance of its tone inconsistently.
VERDICT: Visually, The Jungle Book’s 3D work is impressive and marvelous, but storywise, the crew forgets to include the most important Disney signature – the heart.
