Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Neel Sethi, Ritesh Rajan, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, Garry Shandling, Brighton Rose, Jon Favreau, Sam Raimi, Russell Peters, Madeline Favreau.
There are remakes of films in which the audience should always ask the question, why did they do this, what point does it serve, what on Earth did they do that was any different? The feeling of a sacred bond between cinema and film lover being shattered by the gnawing pain that it comes down to money and conceit, never an easy feeling to shake off; however, in the live action remake of one of Disney’s finest films, The Jungle Book is a film of absolute beauty and fine film craft and much of it comes down to Jon Favreau direction and flag waving cause.
It’s not often that a director will get the praise they deserve for a film, unless it is one of the truly big names that Hollywood brings out from time to time, but in Jon Favreau, praise is the very least the man from Queen’s can expect for his work on the live action version of The Jungle Book. His feel for the film, the absolute love and attention he brings to each sequence is enough to let the audience know just how much he cares about the story and the characters that many either fell in love with by reading Rudyard Kipling’s beautiful novel or indeed by one of the very few animated Disney films worth its salt on screen.
To take a classic animation and turn it into a film of depth and human quality whist retaining the core essence of what made it beautiful in the first place, takes both skill and pride, it abounds with wonder and the grace that perhaps the original book would demand even now. It is to Jon Favreau’s credit that he presents a film so wonderfully crafted and imagined without ever losing the sense of identity that the story should always project.
Neel Sethi is an absolute sensation as the man cub Mowgli but he is also joined by the great Bill Murray, Ben Kinglsey and Idris Elba as voice artists to the charters Baloo, Bagherra and the immense Shere Khan respectively; their voices perfectly in tune to the way that the story holds itself with great satisfaction. Idris Elba certainly holds the audience’s attention with certain prowess that emulates the late George Sanders in his portrayal of the savage Bengal Tiger; a deep growl of absolute dignity and fierceness throughout.
The Jungle Book is not just a film to take in and wallow in the nostalgia of childhood, it is an absolute necessity, a luxury of film making, that is an honour to see on screen.
Ian D. Hall