The Jungle Book (2016)

Genre: Family

Directed by: Jon Favreau

Cast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Alba

Running time: 106 minutes

Mowgli is a little boy, or man cub, who was picked up by black panther Bagheera after his father was killed in the jungle. Raised as part of a pack of wolves, Mowgli’s presence eventually raised the ire of evil tiger Shere Khan, who promises to kill the man cub at the end of the drought. Mowgli decides to leave his pack to save them from some trouble with Shere Khan. He travels through the jungle to make his way to the man village, where he should find his true home, but he meets affable bear Baloo along the way and makes a friend of him.

Based on Rudyard Kipling’s works, this live-action/CGI version of The Jungle Book does not reinvent the wheel. It is the same old story, told in a very beautiful way. The story is as riveting as ever, with many lessons about life and the relationship between humans and animals, and the cinematography is absolutely spectacular. The visual effects are stunning here, it is breathtaking.

The filmmakers also managed to assemble a great cast of actors to voice the characters and they all did their job superbly. Young Neel Sethi was also very good as Mowgli.

Overall, The Jungle Book is a heartwarming story beautifully told with the help of modern technology, solid voice acting and great directing work.

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