By: Ava Rogha
The Jungle Book (2016) is based on a famous Disney tale with the same title from all the way back in 1967, about a little boy who grows up amongst wolves and other wild animals.
This little boy, Mowgli (Neel Sethi) has no idea who his birth parents are and he has not spent any time amongst human beings at all. He may act like a wild animal, but he most certainly does not have the same physical strength!
If you haven’t seen the original movie, it will be a bit difficult to pay attention at first as there isn’t much happening the first couple of minutes. You will be introduced to his wolfpack and the villain of the story, a tiger named Shere Khan (Idris Elba).
However, when Mowgli gets threatened by the tiger, his mother, who is also a wolf, sends him off further into the woods to find a safe haven from this beastly creature.
On his journey, he ends up meeting plenty of other dangerous animals and you may be confused as of how he’s made it this far without being attacked by other jungle animals. But after a lot of running, he finally gets rescued by a friendly bear called Baloo (Bill Murray).
"I am Mowgli of the Seoni, and this is my home!"
Their relationship instantly makes the movie much more interesting. You will see them helping each other and being each other’s support system through difficult times. And if you’re familiar with Mowgli’s famous performance of The Bare Necessities with Baloo, then you will see a little remake of the song performed in this version of the tale. Unfortunately, this will be the only performed act in the movie, which is a bit disappointing knowing how many great songs they could’ve recreated.
Alongside Mowgli’s close friendship with Baloo, you will see a lot of protection coming from Bagheera’s side, who is a black jaguar. Bagheera is the sort of network Mowgli needs in order to make the right decisions throughout the movie. I can even hint that one of Bagheera’s advices may or may not save Mowgli’s life from Shere Khan!
"Mowgli? They've given it a name. When was it we came to adopt Man into the jungle?"
The colorful animals are all beautifully recreated in the live-action version of the movie, which makes it much more fun to watch.
Additionally, I can say with certainty that Neel Sethi, who plays Mowgli, does a great job portraying this phenomenal character compared to other Disney live-action remakes. I also don’t want to ruin the movie magic for you, but knowing that a lot of the characters are in fact animated, it is incredible to see Neel doing an amazing job pretending the set is real.
This movie is full of life lessons and it is interesting to see how a little boy has grown up to love the wolves who raised him, and the wild animals he befriended along the way – even though most of us have grown up fearful of wild animals.
"If anything happens to that kid, I'll never forgive myself!"
If you’ve watched and loved the other Disney remakes, I can say with certainty that this one will not disappoint.
You don’t have to watch the original version in order to love this one, it may just take some more time to get fully into the movie. But overall, it is fun and action-filled, and a great movie to watch with family or friends, despite your age!
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