JUNGLE BOOK, THE

3.5 stars (out of 5)

There have been multiple filmings of Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 story collection The Jungle Book before (most notably the 1967 Disney animated fave), and director/co-producer/voice actor Jon Favreau’s shot (also a Disney production) is distinguished by some truly spectacular CG animated visuals, a cast of fine star vocalists and a not-too-heavy-handed environmental message replacing Rudyard’s racist subtexts.

In the Bengal jungle (it seems), we meet ‘man cub’ Mowgli (Neel Sethi), a pre-teen lad who was abandoned as a baby and raised by a wolf pack led by Akela (voiced by Giancarlo Esposito) and Raksha (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) and protected by a panther named Bagheera (voiced by Ben Kingsley, of course). Mowgli’s growing up and many of the animals are concerned that he will soon become dangerous, like all men supposedly are, and that he will learn to use the ‘red flower’, and this uneasy situation is worsened by the appearance of vengeful tiger Shere Khan, who’s voiced with great menace and tragedy by Idris Elba.

Shere’s scary promise to do in Mowgli leads to the lad’s escape to save his family, and soon he’s facing memorable foes including semi-supernatural python Kaa (voiced by Scarlett Johansson, a pal of Favreau’s and allowed to sing over the closing credits) and Kong-like ‘Gigantopithecus’ King Louie, who’s voiced (and sung) by Christopher Walken, who initially seems to be playing Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now. Luckily Baloo (sweetly voiced by Bill Murray) is there to save the kid time and again, and Baloo is, of course, a bear, an animal that isn’t native to India but it scarcely matters, especially when Bill and Neel joyously sing (what else?) The Bare Necessities.

Moving and touching, even when it’s trying too hard to be, this is one for the kids, although the sequences involving Shere, Kaa and Louie are surprisingly frightening and could well freak out smaller rugrats (but then again this is Disney we’re talking about, and they traumatised a generation way back with the original Bambi). We also learn, yet again, that adult humans are the most dangerous animal of all, but we already knew that, didn’t we, kiddies?