Jon Favreau has come a long way.
From his debut with Swingers (1996) to the film that, arguably, kicked the Marvel Cinematic Universe into high gear,Iron Man (2008). Favreau comes out “swinging” with the live action version of Disney’s The Jungle Book.
By this point, everyone should know, generally, the story behind The Jungle Book. A young boy, Mowgli (played by the excellent Neel Sethi, proving that kids can act, too) is taken in and raised by wolves. Eventually, Shere Kahn (a menacing Idris Elba) comes right out and says it, “something something, I’m going to kill the boy”. This propels the plot forward and Mowgli, with Bagheera’s (Ben Kingsley) help, heads toward the man village, coming across all sorts of interesting and familiar characters. Among these are Baloo (Bill Murray), Kaa (ScarJo) and King Louie (Christopher Walken).
Speaking of Baloo, it takes a minute to get used to, but once the movie starts flowing he does an excellent job of translating the character from Phil Harris’ cartoon version to the live screen. There’s even an appropriate rendition of the famous song, one that kept my family humming well after the movie’s end.
Christopher Walken channels his best Christopher Walken impression from King of New York (1990) to bring King Louie to life. My wife wasn’t a huge fan of the choice in Louie, but I dug the mob boss mentality that Louie represents in the jungle. The one downside is the almost shoehorned version of “I Wanna Be Like You” in the middle of the set piece. It is an excellent rendition that stands on its own, with Walken putting just the right amount of menace behind the words, but the song doesn’t come off as natural in this otherwise grounded world. And, yes, I say grounded as a gigantic ape tries to extort fire from a little boy.
Finally, ScarJo is great as Kaa. The only criticism of the character is the woeful lack of more of her. Kaa’s song, “Trust In Me”, isn’t performed in the film, though it wouldn’t have felt out of place once Mowgli is hypnotized. Thankfully, once the credits roll and we get past Walken’s reprise, we’re treated to the full song. It is an excellent track and the hope is for an extended cut with the song incorporated more into the film, as it makes more sense in the context than “I Wanna Be Like You”.
All in all, the film was really good. Film School Rejects wrote that “The Jungle Book is one of the rare films that surpasses its predecessor.” In many ways, I’m inclined to agree with the assessment. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it keeps me saying “oobie doo” for hours after the movie ends.
Jon Favreau has come a long way
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