"The Jungle Book" (2016) Review

Why don't I like The Jungle Book (2016)?

I woke up today with that question at the top of my list, perhaps carried over from the exhaustion of a late night screening. (Judging by my girlfriend's refusal to move even an inch off the bed, I guess exhaustion still has her.)

The Jungle Book from 1967 is favorite Disney movie. I exclude Pixar because I associate "Disney" with hand-drawn animation and videocassettes. And that's the way I remember the movie: a worn-out VHS, fruit snacks, and a second-grade voice singing to "I Wanna Be Like You."

So is nostalgia to blame for my irritation when I learn Richard M. Sherman (co-writer of the original song) changed an entire verse so he could apparently shove as many mentions of the word "Gigantopithecus" as possible?

Well, yes, but not entirely.

A shot-for-shot remake wouldn't be much better - at best, pointless, and at worst, Gus Van Zandt's Psycho - so in an effort to balance myself out, I'll go point by point and give you Jekyll and Hyde, the critic and fan.


1) Story:

          Jekyll (critic) - The premise is shared between both versions: Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a boy who was abandoned in the jungle as a baby. Found by Bagheera the panther (Ben Kingsley), he's sent to live among the wolves. The fact that Mowgli's not as good at being a wolf as his siblings is the least of his worries - he's being hunted by Shere Khan the tiger (Idris Elba), whose hatred of man fuels his desire to see Mowgli, and anyone in the way, dead. Bagheera offers to escort Mowgli to the safety of the Man Village, and along the way, they come across a cast of colorful characters, including Baloo the bear (Bill Murray), Kaa the snake (Scarlett Johannson), and King Louie the orangutan (Christopher Walken).

Outside of the premise, there's little point in comparing the two.
       
The cartoon is a light-hearted musical comedy about a blissfully ignorant youth forced to face the harsh realities of the world. The sunshine is rarely broken, only by Bagheera's sternness or Shere Khan's attacks, which fits Mowgli's development.

The live-action version is a more straight-forward adventure which sees Mowgli in constant peril. The story is more concerned with the boy's heroism, and asks how a human can fit productively in the animal kingdom.

This newer film, while exposition-heavy, tells its story well, making the message accessible and relevant to all ages. I have some problems with pacing - some scenes are chopped and screwed to where the emotional payoff doesn't do it for me - but overall, it's executed well.

          Hyde (fan) - The remake doesn't go all the way with the darkness, to match Rudyard Kipling's books, so we get watered-down comedy and action. When the cartoon went dark, it caught me off guard. The juxtaposition of comedy and drama made the drama more intense.

In trying to be realistic, the movie drained the fun. It was boring, to the point where my girlfriend fell asleep.

2) Characters:

Jekyll - Two big positives here: Bagheera and Mowgli. Kingsley nailed Bagheera's uptight, protective nature, while Sethi was adorable, bratty, kind-hearted, and funny - he was Mowgli!

I like the update to Kaa. Johannson's sweet, lulling whisper made the character even creepier, a notch I give over the original.

Lupita Nyongo is great as always. She plays Mowgli's adoptive wolf mother, Raksha, with strength passion and nuance.

          Hyde - What the hell did they do with Baloo? He's a dick! I don't blame Bill Murray; he can play a wise-cracking con artist in his sleep, but it's not Baloo, the lovable absent-minded oaf.

I love Christopher Walken. I love King Louie. I love Christopher Walken AS King Louie. I don't love King Louie as King Kong. Outside of a pointless action scene, there's no need for him to be a giant. The original was fun and inviting, but most importantly, sly. It's hard to be sly when you're five stories tall.

I've a weird bone to pick with Shere Khan. The strength and evil is there, but the original had a regality, an arrogance that made him fun to hate.

There's some of this in Elba's performance - a scene where he tells the wolf cubs a story is deliciously sinister - but it's nothing compared to George Sanders, who relished in every drop of malice.

Elba's Shere Khan operates out of "righteous" anger, masking his mania with a plea against the corruption of man. Not to say I don't appreciate a morally complex villain, but one who won't even TRY to reason with you is scarier than one who does.


3) Design:

          Jekyll - Jon Favreau has crafted a gorgeous film. Not since Tarzan have I been this excited watching someone whip through the trees and brave the jungle. The action-movie angle works best here; the landscapes are diverse, and just as perilous as they are breathtaking.

Surprisingly, the element I worried about the most, the animals' CGI, worked wonderfully. I grew up watching animals stare stone-faced into the camera while an actor dubbed a voice-over. To see these characters come to life, in a way that mixes imagination with reality, is extraordinary. CGI is usually associated with laziness and cheap film-making, it's great to call this the exception.

          Hyde - ...ditto.

4) Music:


          Jekyll - The Jungle Book (2016) often missed the spirit of the original, but when it broke into "The Bare Necessities," my childhood came roaring back. Sethi and Murray's voices blended great together; it's as if all the joy from the cartoon was contained in that microcosm.

          Hyde - (to Favreau, John Debney and Richard Sherman) All the goodwill you earned on "Bare Necessities" was lost during "I Wanna Be Like You."

That sequence wasn't a Louis Prima party. There were no trumpet-blowing monkeys nor swing dancing. It should've been fun with an agenda, as King Louie is. Instead, it felt like a villain's song. How does that make sense?

Also, no "That's What Friends Are For?" For shame.

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So what do we get when we bring Jekyll and Hyde back together? A concession.

I don't think The Jungle Book (2016) is a great movie; it's clumsy in tone and pacing, enough to be a distraction. However, I don't think it's a bad movie, at all. For what it is, its own story and feel, it's imaginative and extraordinarily well-made.

This film's for a new generation, a new fable to be told. As a fan and nitpicker, I can't say I liked it, but don't let that stop you.

Thank you all for reading. I'm the Man Without a Plan, signing off.