I've watched the '67 Jungle Book too many times to count, but I barely remember it, so I didn't really have a nostalgia trip here. What I did have was an incredible experience.
The Jungle Book, firstly, has such incredible visuals that I'd be happy if it was just 105 minutes of photorealistic animals mucking about. But no; it has a plot, and damn, it's a gripping one. I'm a huge fan of Kipling's original Jungle Book, and I'll be the first to tell you that the plotting is eh. There's the unifying agent that is Shere Khan, but overall, the book and cartoon are basically just episodic, and the cartoon is episodic with music. This version sustains many of the elements of the cartoon: some of the songs, Kaa as the creepy-ass villain, King Louie, and Mowgli's outfit. However, whereas many of these elements were barely connected in the '67 version, here, Mowlig's encounters with both Kaa and Louie are directly as a result of his conflict with Shere.
After the visuals and plot, my favorite bit was, by far, the acting and characterization. Shere Khan is a brutal, thuggish psychopath, and Idris Elba's rough voice and accent sell that impression. All the other characters as also magnificent, but my personal favorite was Louie. There's something about his Mafia Boss portrayal here, combined with Christopher Walken's incredible acting (ham) chops that hit all the right notes.
To quote Keanu Reeves: Whoa.
That's a good whoa, by the way.
I've watched the '67 Jungle Book too many times to count, but I barely remember it, so I didn't really have a nostalgia trip here. What I did have was an incredible experience.
The Jungle Book, firstly, has such incredible visuals that I'd be happy if it was just 105 minutes of photorealistic animals mucking about. But no; it has a plot, and damn, it's a gripping one. I'm a huge fan of Kipling's original Jungle Book, and I'll be the first to tell you that the plotting is eh. There's the unifying agent that is Shere Khan, but overall, the book and cartoon are basically just episodic, and the cartoon is episodic with music. This version sustains many of the elements of the cartoon: some of the songs, Kaa as the creepy-ass villain, King Louie, and Mowgli's outfit. However, whereas many of these elements were barely connected in the '67 version, here, Mowlig's encounters with both Kaa and Louie are directly as a result of his conflict with Shere.
After the visuals and plot, my favorite bit was, by far, the acting and characterization. Shere Khan is a brutal, thuggish psychopath, and Idris Elba's rough voice and accent sell that impression. All the other characters as also magnificent, but my personal favorite was Louie. There's something about his Mafia Boss portrayal here, combined with Christopher Walken's incredible acting (ham) chops that hit all the right notes.
Five outta five stars here. Loved it.