Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book (2016) marks Disney's third stab at Rudyard Kipling's stories. The first was a 1967 animated effort, well-liked but rarely ranked among Disney's best. Second came a 1994 live action film, which is more King Solomon's Mines than Kipling. This latest effort is an entertaining if slight adaptation.Mowgli (Neel Sethi), orphaned as a child, lives as a "man-cub" with Akela's (Giancarlo Esposito) wolf pack, under the tutelage of panther Bageera (Ben Kingsley). When Sher Kahn (Idris Elba), the much-feared neighborhood tiger, demands Mowgli's extermination, Bageera tries convincing Mowgli to rejoin human society. Mowgli befriends sloth bear Baloo (Bill Murray) and finds a way to harness human talents to an animal lifestyle.
The Jungle Book stays reasonably close to Kipling's text though it borrows liberally from earlier Disney flicks (including two awkward musical numbers). Favreau makes incredible use of digital effects, with photo-real animals and jungle astonishing even in our age of Na'avi and Serkis apes. The movie offers exciting set pieces: a buffalo stampede and mudslide, Mowgli kidnapped by an army of monkeys, an immersive flashback/dream sequence.
Neel Sethi, unfortunately, makes a bland young hero; likeable enough, but lacking charisma or a distinct personality. The all-star voice cast compensates: Bill Murray's stoner Baloo, Ben Kingsley's sage Bageera, Idris Elba's silky Sher Kahn all hit the mark. Christopher Walken plays King Louie as a simian Colonel Kurtz, brooding the shadows until bursting into song. Scarlett Johansson voices the seductive Kaa, Giancarlo Esposito and Lupita Nyong'o Mowgli's wolf parents.
While offering few surprises, The Jungle Book hits the mark. Favreau finds the balance of childhood wonder and jungle violence, shortchanging neither kids nor adults.
