REVIEW: The Jungle Book (2016, Dir. Jon Favreau)

A lot of film geeks have spent their lives craving a balls-out Star Wars film. You know the type, one built from all the badass, nasty, dark shit. The sort of film that could be constructed straight out of a reddit complaints thread. Not me, I quite like the mix of bleakness and optimism that Lucas (initially) hit, and that J.J. rekindled.

As a Cub Scout from way back (with family lineage and all), my pet peeve has been the feather-lightness of every adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book' ever to hit the big screen. Time after time, the source material falls prey to infantalised adventure films. I know that is probably inevitable given all the talking animals involved but there has always been a harder edge to Kipling than any of his adapters has given credit.

And Disney has pretty much killed any chance of that ever happening. First with their delightful animated classic, now with this Jon Favreau's near end-to-end CGI fest.

The Jungle Book has garnered near universal acclaim for its visuals. They are quite frankly stunning. Matched to some excellent character defining voice work from the likes of Bill Murray (Baloo), Ben Kingsley (Bagheera), Idris Elba (Shere Khan), Lupita Nyong'o (Raksha) and Scarlett Johansson (Kaa), the CGI brings the Indian jungle to life vibrantly. It is beautifully realised, stocked with artfully framed, brilliantly coloured vistas, which barely ever drops the semblance of reality.

And yet, amongst the jaw-dropping and sometimes quite visceral moments, Favreau and his screenwriter, Justin Marks, see fit to hang slavishly to Disney's animated template. The songs reappear. Despite some culturally sensitive casting, Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is cut from the brattish American child hero mould. And the episodic structure (which is slightly better adapted from Kipling's short tales than the 1967 effort) is hampered by having to step squarely in all the previous footsteps. While this gives a visually impressive showing from Kaa, it has no real purpose in the narrative. And again, the revisit to King Louie and his Bandarlog is amped up for a second act climax but, curiously, still employs the Disney jazz number.

This jarring mix of tones means The Jungle Book never builds the momentum it needs to deliver on its visual promise. It feels more like a money grabbing revamp than a fully rounded film in its own right. On the upside, it is impressive enough to grab lots of money.

For me though, I'm still hanging out for a better adaptation. A few more years... I look towards 2018 and the next effort, the one that once had Iñarrítu attached to direct. There's going to be a whole lot of mo-cap (the godfather of the technique, Andy Serkis, is now directing), and a whole lot of talent (Bale, Blanchett, Cumberbatch). I'm hoping they'll be out to differentiate themselves from the pack.

My recommendation: no songs, much Law of the Jungle nastiness.

★★★

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