It’s hard not to think of “The Jungle Book” remake as a feast. It is a banquet of storytelling delicacy, exciting light drama, athletic action and computer-generated imagery that is more hyper-real than real. After every delicious scene, I wanted seconds.
Based on the 1967 animated musical, the last feature created under Walt Disney’s guidance, this re-creation is a case of a studio honoring its artistic legacy with consummate care while moving it in a new direction.
An established classic tale has been lifted to an even greater level, toning down the jokes and ramping up the excitement. This version will carry those who have never encountered Rudyard Kipling’s tales or the original film as high as the most devoted fans.
This is moviemaking that is both gigantic and subtle, exciting and simple. It is not simply set in the wild, it is wild. Like “The Lion King,” it welcomes us to an animal kingdom with real royalty, and joins spectacle and humor with touching moments of unabashed sentiment.
Director Jon Favreau, who has progressed from a winning actor’s director in and “Elf” to a master special-effects illusionist in two “Iron Man” blockbusters, here uses every skill in his utility belt. He creates a world where animals look as they do, yet convey stunningly precise human feelings to Mowgli, the orphaned “man cub” raised by wolves in an Indian forest.
It’s a place where there is cross-species jingoism and animosity can erupt with fang and claw. Idris Elba is a nasty piece of work voicing the predatory tiger Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson is simultaneously feminine and hypnotic as the devious python Kaa, Lupita Nyong’o is touchingly protective as Mowgli’s adoptive mother, and Bill Murray is impish fun as Baloo, a hedonist bear who has transformed idleness into a philosophy, until he’s provoked. He’s the sly uncle every child wants and every guy hopes to become.
The wildlife deliver breathtakingly expressive performances matching their all-star vocal backers, across a broad range of characters. Yet they never stumble into the uncanny valley that triggers our revulsion toward creatures that appear nearly human.
There is nothing weird about these characters. They are beasts with big personalities. When Christopher Walken’s power-hungry giant ape King Louie appears in the shadowed interior of a crumbling ruin, rubbing his temple precisely like Marlon Brando in “Apocalypse Now,” it’s a brilliant moment of suspense and a superb inside joke.
Neel Sethi is the sole human performer here, and he is a talent to treasure. Dynamic when he’s on the run (which is often), naturalistic in his close connection to the animals and credible when his human instincts make him construct clever gadgets, he is every bit the equal of the photorealist beasts created by Weta Digital.
Some passages would benefit from creative tweaking. The film reprises “The Bear Necessities” and “I Want to be Like You” though those beloved songs don’t fit this version of the story. And it sends Mowgli jumping and running along the jungle floor and across trees in sequences that feel like off-puttingly lengthy arcade games.
The first move feels like a decision based on releasing a new soundtrack album for grown-up fans, the second to sell millions of kids Disney action apps, which have become a profitable part of the Magic Kingdom.
They didn’t need to cram that kin fog product placement into this lovely film. The ticket sales will repay their investment just fine.
Rated PG.