The Jungle Book (2016)
/Mowgli: I don't know. Uh... Oh! We recited the law of the jungle: “This is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky. The wolf that keeps it may prosper, but the wolf that breaks it will die.”
Baloo: Kid, that's not a song. That's propaganda.
quick fox: C+
winding dragon
After killing Shere Khan in Rudyard Kipling’s book The Jungle Book, Mowgli skins the tiger and proceeds to dance and sing upon his hide. Sadly, that version didn’t make it in Disney’s 2016 live-action adaptation, but the same dark and foreboding tone drives the film.
Unlike the 1967 animated movie, which thrives on humorous characters such as overbearing militant elephants and barbershop quartet vultures, director John Favreau presents the contemporary jungle as a formidable place with death lurking around every branch. Every situation that Mowgli is thrown into holds an immediate threat to his life, from Shere Khan to Kaa to King Louie to the “Red Flower” (Fire). That’s not to say The Jungle Book is devoid of humor, but the central focus is to make the audience witness to the same dangers that Mowgli faces. Looking at the cast list, it’s obvious to see what direction Favreau intended for the film. Of the notable names—Ben Kingsley (Bagheera), Scarlett Johansson (Kaa), Idris Elba (Shere Khan), Lupita Nyong’o (Raksha), Christopher Walken (King Louie)—Bill Murray as Baloo is the only actor that’s known for appearing in humorous roles. Indeed, Baloo truly is the comic relief in The Jungle Book, but even the lovable bear’s presence takes a backseat to Mowgli’s perilous adventure.
One thing that both helps and hurts The Jungle Book is how reliant it is on the assumption that everyone has seen the animated predecessor. On the positive side, the film is able to bypass exposition that might otherwise need to be known. Also, because of the audience’s probability of being immersed in the world before entering the theatre, the familiarity allowed the filmmakers to pinpoint the most exciting aspects from previous renditions. The struggle between Man and Tiger is given a clearer focus and the motivations on either side are much sharper.
On the flip side, the movie opts to rush Mowgli’s relationships with other characters, especially with his wolf-mother Rasksha. In general, The Jungle Book hurries Mowgli along from plot point to plot point without really forming any substantial connections that are new to this version. The film was also quite self-referential. Multiple times, the 2016 film directly referenced the 1967 feature, which was fun at some moments, but at other times—King Louie singing “I Wan’na Be Like You”, for example—it breaks the magic of the universe.
The best part of the film, though, and what makes it worth the viewing, is the outstanding visual effects. The photorealism of the animals and the landscape is almost as mesmerizing as Kaa’s hypnosis, and the extraordinary artistic rending of the jungle is incredible to see in theaters. The most magnificent scene is the introduction of King Louie and watching the individual strands of his orange hair sway with his gargantuan movements.
All in all, I’m sure people who have liked previous adaptations of Kipling’s novel will thoroughly enjoy The Jungle Book. It’s a fast-paced action movie with enough sentimentality to prove that you can take the man out of the jungle, but you can’t take the jungle out of the man.