A Movie for all Ages

The Jungle Book is a movie directed by John Favreau (who also directed the first two Iron Man movies), and a CGI remake of the 1967 Walt Disney classic, The Jungle Book. The story goes that a young boy named Mowgli (Neel Sethi), who after living in the jungle raised by a pack of wolves and a practical panther named Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), has to return to the humans in order to be safe from the terrifying tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba). Along the way as he is guided by Bagheera, he meets a fun loving bear (Bill Murray), a monkey King (Christopher Walken), and even a mysterious anaconda named Kaa (Scarlett Johansson). Along this journey Mowgli also learns about his past and who he really is.

I think this movie is very comparable to the cartoon version we all know. In my own opinion, this movie might have explained the plot of the story better than the cartoon. I won't get into the spoilers of the plot, but what I will say is they both share the same plot.

The recent movie gives more of the perfect balance between intriguing and explanatory. The cartoon made everything more intriguing by making it more entertaining for children, but the plot was a little more vague. If they wanted to make the plot of the cartoon clearer, then they would have had to make it less entertaining and more explanatory, which means more boring.

This movie gave the cartoon a serious plot that kids could understand. I like to call it a transition movie, which is a great movie for kids to love but serious enough that it broadens their minds and let's them appreciate a story's meaning. So in this case, the film is a beautiful gem that polishes the original.

Now for the movie without the original in mind. This movie is the twenty-first century version of the cartoon, so it did reference the original. This film stands out with one of the best casts for a film that is star-studded. The actors all worked so well together as voice overs that even if the CGI was terrible, I could still delve deep into these characters. As a matter of fact, the CGI in this film wasn't good...it was great. This film was so good that it felt like they filmed on location. I couldn't picture the panther better. Maybe in a few years this movie won't hold up with the special effects, but if you are a kid seeing this you will love it just as much as an adult.

That's the thing about this movie - it was enjoyable to pretty much everyone. Like I said before, this was a transition movie for kids. But it was also a transition movie for movies in general. It showed that there is such a thing as a perfect balance between understanding a film and completely enjoying it. I think that there should be more films like this.

Now don't get me wrong, there were some flaws. There could have been more live action or a bit more ease into Mowgli's past, but those are small flaws that all films have.

In the end, I definitely recommend this movie to really any audience because of it's appeal to everyone. I give this film three stars, a 94% and an -A. The Jungle Book is a very great film if you want to take a trip back to the happiness of childhood. It’s an even greater film for kids who want to relax, have fun and enjoy the "Bear Necessities" of this movie. As a "transition film" this movie is one I wish was made more often, as it really offers something for all ages.