Now that's how you do a live-action remake of a beloved animated classic!
As much as I am a huge Disney fan and will watch (and usually love) anything they put out, I'm not a huge fan of this recent trend they seem to have of just remaking all of their old animated films in live-action. It seems like every other day there's an announcement about another one in development and my reaction is more often than not a resounding groan. If I could remember that far back, my reaction to learning about The Jungle Book was most likely the same truth be told, however after finally witnessing the splendour that Jon Favreau has whipped up, I hastily say 'shut my mouth!'.
Simply put, Favreau's film is magnificent. Visually it is stunning (no really, stunning!), with the landscapes and animals on-screen so lifelike that even whilst knowing that most of it is just computer trickery (what with the talking animals and all), you can't quite process that what you are seeing isn't actually real. I thought after seeing the trailer that the hyper-realistic animals talking with human voices would be distracting, and it was a little strange at first, but after a few minutes it seemed almost normal. In fact I now want a talking wolf-cub of my own. Get on it science!
In all seriousness though, the film is just a beauty to behold visually. With so many movies saturated in CGI and unholy amounts of unnecessary special effects these days, it's so easy to become almost numb to it all and as a cinema-going public I think many have become pretty hard to impress in that department. However with The Jungle Book the effects are the film. And that's not intended to imply that the film lacks heart, depth or plot (because it has those in spades), but simply that this film could not have been done so well without such copious and detailed effects work. It really is a wonder to behold, and I'd even go so far as to say that in the succession of movies that truly push the boundaries of what can be done in regards to effects-led storytelling, The Jungle Book sits right there one step beyond Avatar.
About that heart though! The film is full of it! Neel Sethi plays the part of Mowgli with such adorable innocence and spunk that you just can't help but love him. His performance is even more admirable when you consider that he played his part essentially solo, considering all of his co-stars are composed of pixels. It's doubtful Sethi will win any major awards for his role (such is the sad state of award shows), but there really should be a mainstream award show based on just this type of thing, taking into consideration the unconventional factors behind a performance. Regardless, this little guy is a revelation and I'm sure it's just the beginning for him.
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| They say never work with kids or animals...Joke's on them! |
The rest of the cast (albeit heard and not seen) are also near-perfect in their roles, the obvious stand-outs being Ben Kingsley as Bagheera and Bill Murray as Baloo. Both imbue their characters with such warmth and depth that you really do believe a panther can talk and that he'd have pretty wise advice to give you when he did. I did find the casting of Scarlett Johansson as Kaa the snake a little odd at first, especially considering Kaa is originally male (poor Scarlett, first she's not the right gender, now she's not the right race, she can't seem to do anything right lately!), however her sultry, seductive voice actually worked pretty well for the hypnotic (and damn creepy!) serpent who tries to make a meal out of Mowgli. Last mention to Idris Elba as Shere Khan almost goes without saying as Elba is awesome in pretty much anything he does, and his villainous tiger is no different, bringing the perfect measure of arrogance and tempered crazy to the role.
The musical numbers, sparse though they were, felt slightly out of place within the film as a whole (with King Louie's updated version of 'I Wanna Be Like You' seeming especially jarring tonally), however not enough to derail what was a pretty perfect pacing throughout. In fact 'The Bare Necessities' was admittedly pretty damn cute!
Overall, I absolutely loved it and it's instantly entered into my top five films of the year so far! Sure there are those who will say it's unnecessary (and I was one of them before the trailers dropped!), but it's actually a solidly made film, crafted with genuine love and respect for the original, with enough tweaks to bring it up to date technologically and otherwise. Despite still having my reservations about Disney's newfound obsession with live-actionising all of their old films, The Jungle Book gives me renewed hope that at least some of them will be actually worth the effort. Hopefully they will take note of what has been achieved here and realise that we don't need to see how Prince Charming became so charming, or where Cruella De Vil goes to get her iconic monochrome hairstyle dyed. All that's needed (if the need is there at all) is to recreate the magic that made these films classics in the first place. But, you know, with real people! If they can keep on doing that, I'll happily watch them remake their entire back catalogue, as it appears they intend to do in any case.
Having said that, with the (admittedly deserved) success and the effects on display in The Jungle Book, it can only be a matter of time before we get...dare I say it...a live-action The Lion King. If I've thought of it, you just know some Disney exec has! Is nothing sacred?! I guess we'll see.
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My only gripe is that we never saw this moment recreated in live-action...
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