A young boy raised by wolves in the jungle must return to
his human village before a vengeful tiger finds and kills him.

ACTION/FAMILY

​The Jungle Book ​(2016)

Directed by Jon Favreau

Written by Justin Marks

Starring Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, ​Idris Elba,
Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito,
​Christopher Walken

​Remake of 1967's The Jungle Book

Based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling

Oscar Wins - Best Visual Effects

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Connor Eyzaguirre

April 14, 2016

9/10

I knew this Disney remake was going to be interesting, as so far all of them have been at least worth watching. What I didn't expect is that the remake of The Jungle Book would blow all my expectations out of the water and seriously impress me. The Jungle Book is one of the best films of the year so far. I didn't think CGI would wow me anymore but the way this film recreated animals was so realistic. Maybe there are things that can still surprise us in the movies.

I was a big fan of the original Jungle Book cartoon when I was a kid, so my expectations for this remake were awfully high. Jon Favreau assembled a flawless voice cast and used some of the same music from the original film. He even kept the songs "The Bare Necessities" and "Wanna Be Like You." When both of these were sung, a huge grin appeared on my face and this film instantly became a win. My favorite talent was Christopher Walken as King Louie, who was turned from an orangutan into a terrifyingly huge gigantopithecus. Hearing Walken sing Louie's signature tune made me feel like a kid again. My only problem with the film was how small Kaa the Snake's role in it was. Scarlett Johansson did a great job for her brief appearance. Kaa was such a big part of the original cartoon and seeing that recreated in live action could've been really neat.

The Jungle Book is one of the only remakes to actually improve on the original, especially the reasons behind Shere Khan's (Idris Elba, excellent casting) hatred of man and the code of the jungle. I adored this film, which is rare for me because I usually hate remakes. I respect Disney for putting love into this one. It shows. I can't wait for the next one. It's like getting to relive my childhood movies all over again.