SO, i've watched The Jungle Book this afternoon and i took great pleasure watching it. I think Jon Favreau, the cast and everyone working on the film did a great job, really. Neel Sethi who plays Mowgli, the “man cub”, is much better than i expected and did a very good job considering he was playing most of the time in front of green screen and had to imagine at 10 years old only that he was talking with animals who were not on the set.
But the award goes to the wizards of digital effects who have recreated literally everything. I've never seen CGI animals looking so real, and i don't think it will be possible to do any better in the future. And i'm not talking about the CGI jungle which is amazing too.
The film is at 70% a faithful adaptation of the Disney classic and even two songs from the beloved animated film - Bare Necessities and I wanna be like you ( and even Trust in me during the cute end credits that you must not miss ) - were kept in the movie. I liked too ( during the sequence with Kaa ) the explanation about why Mowgli ended as a baby left alone before being "saved" by Bagheera and the wolves family.
Lot of epic sequences - the one in the old temple with King Louis is superb, and of course all actors performances for the characters voices are perfect. So, yes, Disney should have a big hit with this one, and i strongly recommend you to go at a theater near you and watch it as soon as you can!
Picture: copyright Disney
