This is one a film that I almost added onto my blog post about the films of 2016 that I was looking forward to seeing, but Finding Dory took it's spot.
So, I took myself down to Cineworld, where I basically live, for my FIFTEENTH visit of 2016!
I loved the cast more than anything, with one of my favourites - Idris Elba - taking on the terrifying part of Shere Khan, plus other much-loved stars, like Scarlett Johansson and Ben Kingsley.
I was also very excited by it when I heard that it was Jon Favreau in the director's chair and producing it too. I'm a huge fan of his, as he produced all three Iron Man films and Avengers Assemble and Age of Ultron. He also directed the first two Iron Man films. Anyway, let's move away from the director and the Marvel work he's done and get back to The Jungle Book...
Visually, it was stunning from start to finish. The setting was incredible and just how I dreamed it would look, along with the many animals created for it.
The star of the show was Neel Sethi, who was brilliant as Mowgli. I can't wait to see what else comes from him in the years to come. I can't imagine how he must have felt on that set, especially for his first feature-length film where he is in almost every scene.
The moment it started they played the original music from the old Disney classic, which made me fall in love with it from the beginning. I loved that some of the songs were kept in it too, especially the iconic scene with Baloo and Mowgli in the river. I wish they'd kept Kaa's song in it, as Scarlett Johansson did a really good job with it. They also had Christopher Walken singing King Louie's 'I Wanna Be Like You' kept in it, but it wasn't as amazing as I hoped it would be. Walken's casting was great, but I wasn't a fan of the singing and the way the song was done. But that didn't stop it being an amazing film.
It made me smile almost non-stop. It made me laugh a number of times. It made me jump on a couple of occasions (both with Shere Khan, with one near the beginning when you knew he was going to spring up and the other nearer the end where, again, you knew he was going to appear but I wasn't fully prepared and I did jump out of my seat!)
It also made me a little teary at the end when the film finished, as they used the Disney classic was of ending a film, but having an old-looking book closing, to show the cover with the title. It's how all of the best, original Disney films started and ended, and I was so grateful to Favreau for keeping that part.
I have awarded this film:
I loved it, I really did. It was fun and visually amazing. I could stare at images of that jungle all day. It only lost a point for kinda-sorta ruining King Louie's song. I like Christopher Walken and it's not that was bad, because he played a great 'mafia-esque' Louie, but it just stuck in my mind as something that I feel could have been better.
If you love Disney and want to relive a classic in a new, live-action form then get yourself down to your local cinema!
What did you think of the latest live-action film by Disney?
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