The Jungle Book
This live action remake of the 1967 animated film of the same name (which I probably have seen but not for over a decade) hits the right notes when it attempts to appeal to a mass audience. What the film does really well is balance the humor and the threat as the film is often humorous and amusing (Bill Murray’s Baloo is a comic highlight) and frequently creepy and quite tense, most notably when Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is attacked by a gigantic snake and, later on in the film, by an equally gigantic ape (voiced by Christopher Walken and his unusual speech patterns).
The excellent balance between humor and threat gives the film some depth as does Mowgli’s relationships with various CGI characters, particularly Baloo and Bagheera (Ben Kingsley). Much of this is owed to Neel Sethi’s great performance and the believability of his interactions with the CGI characters, his performance is even better when you remember that Sethi spent most of his time interacting with green screen. Supporting him a good vocal performances from Bill Murray and Ben Kingsley, but it’s Idris Elba swho teals the show lending his menacing voice to provide the vocals for the film’s antagonist, Shere Khan.
Films like Life of Pi really enhanced CGI representations of wild animals andwhilst its incredibly easy to get it horribly wrong (see After Earth) The Jungle Book’s CGI animals and setting is absolutely terrific. The CGI created environments are imaginative, believable and immersive and the CGI animals feel like genuine real characters because of their incredible detail which helps create the believable relationships making the film a delight with its engaging and catchy soundtrack.