TheRealYuma
Since: Feb, 2014
04/30/2016 00:00:00
But Baloo was a con artist, initially.
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A wonderfully welcomed remake
I wasn’t a fan of the original. I found it boring. But Disney’s live action remake of their classic was at least an entertaining film.
It follows the animated film almost the same. There are changes, but not many. It’s more engaging, but the pacing is off. Some points are glanced over and others are focused on for some time. The additional action made it more interesting as well.
Most characters were voiced fine. I especially loved Ben Kingsley’s Bagheera and Scarlet Johansson’s Kaa. But Bill Murray's Baloo was distracting. I thought Murray would be the best casting choice, but it seemed out of place. Maybe it’s because he spoke more like a con artist than a jungle animal, so the issue may be more with the writing than the actor.
One of the best improvements is Neel Sethi as Mowgli. Mowgli was boring in the original. He was just an observer, his personality set by the situation. Mowgli in this movie is a defined character. He’s a smart but curious kid who wants to continue living in the jungle, preferably with the family that helped him grow. It can be argued that Mowgli’s character didn’t really grow in the movie, but I don’t think he needed it since several other characters have their own developments instead.
My other concern was the fact that it’s live action and all the animals are CGI, so I thought it’d look fake. Again, I was mistaken. The CGI on the animals is fantastic. It’s not perfect and I would have liked some practical effects, but at least I can believe that they’re in the same scene as Sethi, which is more than can be said for other films. There is no purpose in seeing this movie in 3D, though. With most of it done in CG, you’d think they’d take advantage of it. But no, there is literally just ONE scene where the 3D works. Don’t bother paying the extra money.
The biggest pitfall is the songs, or lack thereof. They do appear, but they’re handled in a very poor fashion. Bear Necessities, while getting a whole scene to it and sung well, is just Mowgli and Baloo chilling while singing it. It’s kind of boring. Wanna be Like You was just odd in its presentation in the film, especially when you hear the better rendition that they play over the end credits. Trust in Me and Elephant March songs don’t appear in the movie at all. The first is just referenced with a line and sung over the end credits. The second is completely removed (To be fair, it was removed for a very understandable reason once you see the film). I hope we get these songs properly in an extended edition, because they do sound good.
The story is good despite pacing problem, helped a lot through the additional action sequences. Almost all of the characters fit perfectly in the film, with the main character being a really great improvement on the original. The CGI is just amazing. It’s an overall great film that I would give Four and a Half stars. I totally recommend seeing it in theaters…in 2D.