Before the advent and immense popularity of the Cable TV, Doordarshan was enjoying the liberty of being the sole monopoly as far as the TV channels were concerned. Without having an embarrassment of riches at our disposal, there was no choice but to watch what was being telecasted. Fortunately, there were really great shows that were showed to relieve the monotony in everyone's lives. One such awesome program was Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book' and his master creation 'Mowgli'. Growing up with Mowgli and the cubs along with Bagheera, Baloo, the troublesome Bandar Log and the minatory and blood thirsty Shere Khan, the Jungle Book was a tale of fearless escapades highlighting the core values of family,friendship, love and courage. When Disney announced that Jungle Book would be a live-action film and Jon Favreau to steer the ship, I was completely ecstatic and my expectations were over the moon. Does The Jungle Book live up to the expectations?
As you are already at home with The Jungle Book's storyline, it will be a completely boring and monotonous review if I were to narrate it even in a nutshell. So, looking past the narrative, The Jungle Book is nothing short of a mesmerizing visual extravaganza - the lush green forests and its rich landscape, the feral chases, the beautiful images of the animals so vividly and lifelike and the amazing steep climb to abandoned city and the city itself where King Louie resides - you just cannot single out a particular moment where the movie was dull as far as the VFX is concerned. It was so realistic to the core that when Shere Khan was doing one of his jumps, it felt like the murderous and scar-ridden tiger was springing on leaping on me - The power of 3D compounded infinity times because of the authentic and naturalistic setting.
The strength of a good animated movie is only as strong and good as its voice cast. Fortunately, The Jungle Book has got a tremendous set of performers who has literally unleashed a fresh breath of life into all the characters. Kingsley as the wise and protective Bagheera with his deep silky vocalization was mind-blowing. Idris Elba was more than menacing and frightening in his adaptation as Shere Khan. Lupita as Raksha made me to turn on the water works at places where she fiercely defended Mowgli out of her true love for him. Similarly, the rest of the characters had the apt voice cast to give a fantastic viewing and aural experience. But, it was Scarlett Johansson in her portrayal as Kaa that really cast a spell not only on Mowgli but also upon everyone just as the python's hypnotic ability. Though Kaa's role was very power-punching and highly effective even in the very minimal time, it could have been better if Kaa had been given some more screen presence so that the audience would have been immersed in the trancing expressions of Scarlett Johansson.
As you are already at home with The Jungle Book's storyline, it will be a completely boring and monotonous review if I were to narrate it even in a nutshell. So, looking past the narrative, The Jungle Book is nothing short of a mesmerizing visual extravaganza - the lush green forests and its rich landscape, the feral chases, the beautiful images of the animals so vividly and lifelike and the amazing steep climb to abandoned city and the city itself where King Louie resides - you just cannot single out a particular moment where the movie was dull as far as the VFX is concerned. It was so realistic to the core that when Shere Khan was doing one of his jumps, it felt like the murderous and scar-ridden tiger was springing on leaping on me - The power of 3D compounded infinity times because of the authentic and naturalistic setting.
The strength of a good animated movie is only as strong and good as its voice cast. Fortunately, The Jungle Book has got a tremendous set of performers who has literally unleashed a fresh breath of life into all the characters. Kingsley as the wise and protective Bagheera with his deep silky vocalization was mind-blowing. Idris Elba was more than menacing and frightening in his adaptation as Shere Khan. Lupita as Raksha made me to turn on the water works at places where she fiercely defended Mowgli out of her true love for him. Similarly, the rest of the characters had the apt voice cast to give a fantastic viewing and aural experience. But, it was Scarlett Johansson in her portrayal as Kaa that really cast a spell not only on Mowgli but also upon everyone just as the python's hypnotic ability. Though Kaa's role was very power-punching and highly effective even in the very minimal time, it could have been better if Kaa had been given some more screen presence so that the audience would have been immersed in the trancing expressions of Scarlett Johansson.
Ever since its creation by Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book has been running wild through cartoons, animated pictures etc. for more than a century. This faithful adaptation to the novel was simply dazzling for the sheer amount of time and effort in bringing life to the characters by the VFX team and cinematography. Though the program was in Hindi and I couldn't understand the dialogues word for word, I still managed to sit through the show for its peppy title song and see Rudyard Kipling's creative brilliance in all its splendour. The Jungle Book made me to relive my childhood days where I used to sit hungrily in front of the TV and watch Mowgli's daring adventures and his final face off with Shere Khan. Everyone in the 80s and 90s era would feel the same. This Jungle Book is a spellbinding blast from the past experience.
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