A favorite among the Disney library gets a live action reboot nearly fifty years in the making. In “The Jungle Book”, Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a human boy raised by the Indian wolves Raksha (Lupita Nyong’o) and Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) ever since he was brought to them as a baby by Bagheera the black panther (Ben Kingsley). When the fearsome scarred Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) threatens his life because man isn’t allowed in the jungle, Mowgli leaves his jungle home. Guided by Bagheera and Baloo the bear (Bill Murray), he sets out on a journey of self-discovery while evading the man-hunting Shere Khan. Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who do not exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (Scarlett Johansson), the sly and hypnotic Indian python, and the smooth-talking Bornean orangutan-resembling Gigantopithecus, King Louie (Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly “red flower”(fire). “The Jungle Book is rated PG for some scenes of action and life-threatening peril.

“The Jungle Book” is the very definition of what I view as a successful reboot. The film offers a satisfying blend of respect to the fans of the original animated feature, while taking enough chances creatively to give this idea purpose. To anyone who read my review on last year’s “Cinderella”, you know that it received an ordinary grade of 6/10. The reason for it, was because the film played the origin story as safe as possible with its characters and plot, opting not to upset fans of the original. Where I applaud director Jon Favreau and his production team is bringing together this group of bigger-than-life characters and translating it in a big budgeted live action presentation that the whole family can enjoy.

Most of the film’s characters are of course animals, so the filmmakers had to be careful in their decision for live action animals or the overdone CGI that is easier done these days. I did worry a little bit heading into this film seeing the resolution of the CGI animals when compared to their human counterpart, but it was done mostly successful. The rich tapestry of colors in the backgrounds of jungle landscape really resignate well the green screen work of their characters that are added in post-production. Because these animals can talk, the film chose to go with mouth movements, instead of their vocals being dubbed over in audio while the screen is on them. I do support this direction, but I’m still not a complete believer in mouth movements among animal characters. The first thing that it makes me think of is silliness, but luckily most of the tone of the movie is presented in a straight attitude. I mentioned earlier about the landscapes in the film, and this combined with a mature cinematography, really gave the movie an adult-like feel, treating child audiences with respect with one of their favorite tales.

I want to talk a little bit about the versatile casting choices made for the various personalities in the movie. First of all, Neel Sethi is a force to be reckoned with as Mowgli. His transformation from beginning to end isn’t rushed or used as an afterthought. It’s the very front-and-center plot of this movie, and that growth really succeeds in a character actor bringing the best of childlike innocence, as well as rugged heroism that every kid can believe in. Sethi’s very look and design for wardrobe lifted him straight from the screenshots of the 1967 original. Next is a stellar cast of voice-acting that acheives a great range of depth in the emotions they convey. Ben Kingsley’s stern vocals offer such a protecting audio for Bagheera. He serves as Mowgli’s best friend, and we feel like there’s always that warm feeling of protector anytime Bagheera’s presence is on-screen. Bill Murray soundly steals this film and makes it run at his sarcastically witty style during the second act. Baloo has always been my personal favorite character in the movie, and they couldn’t have picked a more engaging actor for the audience than Murray. While the film sacrifices most of its original musical numbers, one of the two kept in is “Bear Necessities”, and the chemistry in magic between Sethi and Murray vocally blend magically, despite it being a boy with a CGI counterpart. Idris Elba is also captivating as the deceptively evil Khan. One thing that i’ve always loved about Elba as a villain is that he never has to yell to make you truly fearful of him, and “The Jungle Book” only adds to this idea. Johansson and Walken are also great additions to this talented cast. I think King Louie was a little big in design, but that doesn’t take away from the power hungry nature that Walken distills.

Playing opposite of some dreamy landscape shots by Favreau, is a musical orchestral score that communicates everything from childlike ambition, to impending doom for our favorite characters. Composer John Debney’s score demanded my attention on more than one occasion, and he is greatly responsible for bringing to life this jungle and the wide range of species it covets. Debney knows where to play each tone to invest the audience into each situation, so it didn’t surprise me when I found out this was the same Academy Award nominated composer who headed scores for “Sin City” and “Spider-Man 2” among countless others.

“The Jungle Book” welcomes its way back into that part of your heart that you reserved off for such alluring fantasy tales when you were a child. It captivated my attention for the best of two worlds; adult atmospheric tones and an immersive adventure for childlike beliefs. This one is at least a blueprint for Disney re-imaginings, and at most an early favrorite for best surprise of the spring.

8/10