Friday, April 22, 2016

The Jungle Book

Disney is a juggernaut nowadays, one after another, their movies hit theaters making major money. Maybe, just maybe it's because they own almost everything...I'm kidding, no seriously, I'm pretty sure they do! Anyway, this newest version of this beloved story about a man-cub and his animal friends. Should this version been tossed into a jungle never to be seen, or was it worth the 25 dollars spent to see it in 3D? Lets find out:




The Jungle Book- I believe this is the 3rd or 4th retelling of the story of Mowgli, the small boy raised by wolves in the jungle. Plus, his friend and mentor a panther named Bagheera voiced by Ben Kingsley. Not the only big name voice acting in this film, we have Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, and Christopher Walken. Technology has really come a long way because all of these animals look so real. The young boy and new comer Neel Sethi, played a very good part as Mowgli. He was very likable, and meshed well with the other voice actors.


Plot- During the worst drought the jungle has ever experienced, the animals have called for a truce until the rivers return. When all the animals are congregating around the final water hole, the most feared animal of the jungle appears, Shere Khan. The beast swears a man-cub will grow up to become a man, and all men are evil and need to be eradicated. He promises he will hunt down Mowgli to kill him once the rivers return. Afraid Shere Khan will hurt the members of the wolf pack, Mowgli decides to leave to protect them. Bagheera volunteers to guide him back to the world of man, so Shere Khan cannot reach him.

Honestly, I really enjoyed this take on the story, by spending more time with the other animals. You really got a chance to see some great character development. Unfortunately, you don't see much of Kaa the HUGE python or Louie the monkey king, but they do get some great scenes though. The movie is packed with emotion, great action sequences, and plenty of humorous moments. You do get to see a much more evil side of Shere Khan, which I think made him a far better and more intense villain of the film. Now if I could I would have kept one of the wolf cubs, freaking loved them!

Final Verdict- 8.5/10, a great movie, enjoyable characters, actually worth the 3D price. Highly recommend for a date movie.

In two weeks, a big box office movie hits theaters, Captain America 3: Civil War, and I am hoping it lives up to the hype. This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!