Jungle Book is a marvelous technical wonder, that deserves to be praised for the excellent acting of its young leading actor. It can't have been easy to act in front of so many green screens to animals that aren't really there, and to make it seem like he is actually looking at them. But that aside, the movie fails to sell you on the illusion completely. You are constantly aware that you are looking at CGI animals, and it is distracting from start to finish. Don't get me wrong, occasionally the animals look almost lifelike. And the way actors and animals are integrated into the environments is really well done... but it's not enough. The main antagonist, does not look like a real tiger, and you see a lot of him. Many other main characters also look fake, and as an audience it is almost impossible not to spot where the illusion breaks. You're just constantly looking for the flaws, whether you want to or not. Second, the movie fails to surpass or equal the animated movie. There are constant nods to the original, which just makes you wish you were watching that movie instead. They do some things different, but if you've seen the original animated Disney movie that this is based on, then you are constantly wondering "will they do this", and "will they do that". It's great to see Baloo sing Bear Necessities, but it's only done partially, and leaves you wanting for the full song. And then there are other songs that you really look forward to (Like Ka's song), but are left out, or only played during the end credits. The recent Beauty and the Beast live action movie was a literal copy of the animated movie, but at least it knew what it wanted to be. Jungle Book doesn't seem to know if it wants to be an homage to the animated film, or BE the animated film. And so it fails at both. The ending also feels a bit sudden. It seems as if the movie should have ended with Mowgli returning to the village, but it just ends abruptly. It doesn't feel entirely satisfying. It also feels like a lot of scenes may have perished on the cutting room floor for this film. This is not a terrible film, but ultimately it's a bit forgettable. It just makes you want to watch the original.
Review of The Jungle Book
