THE JUNGLE BOOK REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Ever since Walt Disney released the first ever animated motion picture, Snow White And The Seven Dwarves, in 1937, his films have become a classic. Now, with the advanced technology we have now, filmmakers have managed to successfully create live-action adaptations of these animated films. The Jungle Book, which was originally released in 1967, is the latest animated feature to get this treatment. It's one of Disney's most popular films due to its unique narrative, likeable characters and catchy songs such as The Bare Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You.
Director Jon Favreau uses computer generated images to make the characters look life like and a A-List cast to voice them including Bill Murray as Baloo the bear, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera the panther, Idris Elba as Shere Khan the tiger and many others. Neel Sethi is the only actor that physically appears in the film as the young 'man-cub' Mowgli who, as an infant, was discovered by Bagheera and raised by wolves. Unfortunately, Shere Khan becomes aware of him and, because he's a human, wants him dead. Bagheera tries to take Mowgli back to the man village where he belongs but fails and leaves him in the middle of the jungle. This is where he meets Baloo, a lovable bear who soon befriends Mowgli after saving him from Kaa the snake (Scarlett Johansson). However, as Shere Khan takes over the jungle, Mowgli learns about the danger he's in.
Neel Sethi is brilliant as Mowgli, he brings the character to life. Despite the fact that no real animals appear in this film, he pulls off a great performance. It's hard to believe that the animals aren't actually there as the CGI used in this film look incredibly realistic. Ben Kingsley is the perfect voice for Bagheera as he's the most serious character and wants nothing more than for Mowgli to go back to his real home. Bill Murray is hilarious as Baloo, I couldn't imagine any other comedic actor pulling off this performance as well as him. And Idris Luther is brilliantly scary as the evil Shere Khan.
I think one of the reasons why the original Jungle Book became a classic was because of its catchy songs, The Bare Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You. I think everyone will be pleased to know that both songs feature in this film, I don't think it would've been a proper live-action remake without those two songs.
Despite this being a family film, there are some dark elements added to create tension, therefore I wouldn't recommend taking young children to watch this due to jump scares and some of the fight scenes.
Overall, this is my favourite live action adaptation of a Disney film so far.
7/10