The Jungle Book grossed $966.6 million over a $177 million budget, becoming the 5th-highest-grossing film of 2016 and the 40th-highest-grossing film of all time. It is based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling and is a remake of The Jungle Book (1967). It is rated PG for mild threat and violence, some scenes may scare young children (in Australia). The following are the 10 most recent IMDb reviews for the film.
Mowgli is a “mancub” raised among the jungle animals – specifically the wolves. Although he tries hard to be a wolf, the fact that he is human remains a handicap. He is often told “that’s not the wolf way”. When a drought hits, the river drops, exposing the “Peace Rock”. During this time, all animals can come to the water to drink and not be harassed. However, Shere Khan shows up. And while he won’t harass or eat anyone while the drought lasts, once the river rises, he will return for Mowgli’s blood.
After much argument by the wolves, Mowgli leaves, as “I don’t want to see anyone get hurt.” Bagheera helps him, intending to take him to the man village.
However, things don’t go to plan. Mowgli doesn’t want to go. There are a series of adventures and close calls.
The movie is quite exciting. It’s a bit rougher (as in more violent) than the original, and some scenes may be scary for young children (my then-5-year-old brother cried at one point the first time he watched). I didn’t like the small religious element of the movie, either. However, I did like the movie’s themes. It’s a fun and exciting adventure.
But it’s also got INCREDIBLE special effects, which really raise the benchmark.
A truly brilliant movie.
Warning: Spoilers
1. The main kid can’t act, his line delivery is painful. the dialogue is also really, really bad and predictable. I caught myself completing dialogue sequences multiple times until I had to stop myself.
2. None of the characters work. the trailer and poster all show Kaa (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) which is the only character that sorta works but her scene is short and pointless in the overall story.
3. Most scenes are pointless in the overall story. the excuse that this is a kids movie is no excuse at all. most scenes do not work with each other or lead in to other scenes.
4. The fact that most “actors” in this “live action” retelling are CG animals is a problem compounded by the fact that Mogli can’t act. to be fair the kid probably had to talk to a lot of tennis balls on sticks and that can be hard (see Olsen’s performance in Avengers 2 whenever she had to interact with Ultron) but there is a serious disconnect with every character on screen even when the animals talk to each other.
5. Every veteran actor in this sounded like they read their script the morning before they had to go on. The worst example of this is Bill Murray, pay attention to his acting and its clear he didn’t want to be there. The only ones that were not phoning it in where Scarlett Johansson and to a lesser degree Christopher Walken and that’s probably because he was one of the few singing performances.
6. There is only one complete musical sequence, and its with Christopher Walken. If you’re a fan of hairspray you are in for a treat, even if its brief. This movie threw away damn near everything memorable about the original and didn’t replace it with anything new and it shows with its lack of musical sections.
7. The new Ending is bad. it has a hamfisted message that I think is supposed to be pro-environment. I say I think because it was not delivered very well. Minor spoiler, Mogli is hounded for most of the movie because he’s human and the tiger Shere Khan wants him out of the jungle because he thinks Mogli will bring ruin to the Jungle. In the final confrontation Mogli steals fire from the local human village to fight Shere Khan and he brings ruin to the jungle. Mogli is supposed to learn something from this I think but like I said, not acted or communicated very well.
In brief they stripped everything fun about the story. If you like the original animated Jungle Book I would be surprised if you found anything good in this. if you want a live action Jungle Book movie it’s been done better before. if you want to see a live action retelling of a Disney animated classic go watch the only good one that tells a new and interesting story, Maleficent.
Excellent CGI work. A fun movie to watch if you have couple hours and don’t care much for anything too specific and just want to be entertained.
Pick it up for sure.
Then I started to become curious. I read articles about how newcomer Neel Sethi did pretend basketball for his audition tape because of how much green screen and nothingness he would be working with. And I will start with Mowgli because he is fantastic. Think of Life of Pi as a reference point. But then think of a kid’s imagination and why people might have fallen in love with the original in the first place. This kid brings the movie to life, and there wasn’t a moment I wasn’t impressed by him.
Now for the jungle. It is beautiful. I have no idea how they were able to accomplish it, but it’s so stunning. In an extended compliment, I tip my hat to Iron Man and Elf director Jon Favreau. Whether it’s the placement of the animals or the way the camera moves with the jungle, the man knew exactly what he was looking for and he got it.
Mowgli isn’t quite on his own; you have an all-star cast lending their voices with Bill Murray, Idris Elba, and Christopher Walken being the highlights. Not only do they add with their voices, but the animals they represent are such a feat to behold. I loved how the camera would trail Mowgli talking to Bagheera the panther and the way the shoulder blades moved in stride with the walk. The look is there, the behavior is there, and the characters are there.
The next thing is both a compliment and also one of the complaints I hold. The story arc follows Mowgli as he has all these different encounters with the creatures of the jungle– whether for better or for worse. For the most part, the encounters are brief, for this movie had to be under 2 hours while still having scenes with all these different animals. And while segments with Kaa (Scarlet Johansson) or King Louie are welcomed, the main character isn’t given much time to spend with Bagheera or Baloo; this is a problem becomes we’re supposed to feel this bond grown that even though Mowgli is a man cub, he will instead choose the life with the animals he loves. And his interactions with Bagheera and Baloo are fantastic, but they don’t provide the depth and framework that animated and kids movies often fall prey to. Furthermore, the two songs played are a great relief of pace, but they can’t help that some scenes I described as brief still feel stretched. The pacing isn’t quite there, and the development of the story suffers for it.
There are moments that will probably scare some children, especially when the red flower is introduced, but the animals presented and the diverse characters they represent are fresh and needed. And there’s no doubt that Bill Murray fits the bill as Baloo the bear. Top it off with the beautiful jungle and some borrowed elements of The Lion King, and well, you have one of the most exciting Disney films of recent years. You will enjoy it in the theaters, but perhaps not as much as you would hope to. You can find this review and dozens of others at gillipediamoviereviews.blogspot.com
Blockbusters Reviewed 
I love this movie! In fact, the top review is mine.
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I loved this movie as well
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Reblogged this on Blockbusters Reviewed and commented:
(Note that The Jungle Book is no longer among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time.)
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