The Jungle Book (live action)

[Apollo the Just]

Disney loves few things more than making more money off of old movies they've already made a bunch of money off of. So it wasn't particularly shocking when they said they were gonna make a live-action Jungle Book, following the live-action Cinderella, the live-action Maleficent,, etc etc etc etc.........

But like??? I really loved this one. It was sweet and beautiful and the actor who played Mowgli did such a good job. And all of the animals were incredibly well-animated. And IMO the ending was so much better.

[spoiler]None of that heterosexuality-lures-Mowgli-to-the-human-village bull. He stays with his friends and family. Also MOM WOLF AS HEAD BITCH IN CHARGE YYEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHHH[/spoiler]

If we are being honest I probably liked it so much because it was very How to Train Your Dragon-y. Without the dragons but you can't have everything. Would recommend!! Really cute movie.


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Also the more I see of the behind the scenes for this movie, the more impressed I get with Neel Sethi's acting??? That movie was pretty much entirely this kid interacting with CG.

[Calamity Panfan]

I felt that some of the songs and stuff felt a little shoehorned in like "oh hey it's the jungle book so we need the bare necessities and i wanna be like you" but other than that i really dug the movie

also i complained about the songs in the movie but the scarlett johansson version of "trust in me" that played in the credits is so dope

[Apollo the Just]

"i wanna be like you" felt 100x more shoehorned in considering it came RIGHT AFTER bare necessities? like we have an entire movie of no songs so far, then the first song which at least felt in character because it felt like the characters were singing for fun rather than singing-as-dialogue, ALMOST IMMEDIATELY followed by another song that felt much less natural.

like I think it would have been fine with just Bare Necessities? it would have also been fine without either but having both of them so awkwardly close to one another as the oNLY TWO SONGS IN THE MOVIE made it seem really forced and weird, I agree.

[Booyakasha]

Good movie.

[Booyakasha]

^^You know, the change they wrought on King Louie and the monkeys in general doesn't really sit right with me. Like, in the original movie, right, King Louie plays foil to Baloo and Bagheera, but he comes off playful and likeable. He sounds and looks kind of sad and earnest when he sings 'I wanna be a man, man-cub'---------like, his desire for man's red fire comes off as a genuine aspiration to be human. Whereas the new version, being thirty feet tall and all...him wanting fire comes off more like a supervillain plot.

Also, why don't the monkeys talk at all? They talk in the original one. They jeer and scoff at Baloo, they dance, they goof around. It's endearing. In the new one, they act like wild animals. It's a weird change. Anthropomorphising some of the animals and not others.

Like, one can sort of see Mowgli staying with King Louie in the original movie, because that seems like a pretty okay time. But like why would Mowgs ever stay with King Louie in the new one. Having evil monkeys all around all the time.

[Apollo the Just]

I agree 100%; the monkeys are all weirdly two dimensionalized as evil greedy villainous bad guys with no motivation other than BE THE STRONGEST EVILEST EVER. The playfulness is gone and it's just evil. Made for a much less interesting scene.

[Booyakasha]

Also...you know. New version of the song doesn't have a scat battle between two jazz legends.

My ma took a vacation down to New Orleans last year, and she went to Louie Prima's old jazz club one night. Evidently his daughter runs the place and leads the band now that Louie's dead, and she has 'Wanna Be Like You' on the setlist every single night. That's pretty cool.

[RinkuTheFirst]

I liked the movie. I was happy that they didn't shy away from some of the more graphic/dark aspects. I've heard some children find it too scary? I can see why very young (like pre-kindergarten age) would find it scary at times.

The second song did feel a little shoehorned in. I was a bit disappointed that Scarlett Johansson was a one scene wonder. The kid playing Mowgli did a good job, as did everyone really.

[ScottyMcGee]

Still need to see this.

I thought this was going to be mediocre because I typically find live-action movies with realistic talking animals to be. . .awkward, but I've only heard great things from this.

[Apollo the Just]

Yeah, it wasn't awkward at all. All of the animals felt animalistic and the CG was absolutely incredible - it really felt like a slightly mystical jungle inhabited with animals that could speak.