The Jungle Book

These Disney live action remakes of their animated classics are weird. I get them, but I’m not overly sure if I like them, or at least not until I saw The Jungle Book. This one kind of works.

Unlike most of recent Disney remakes, this one actually sticks pretty close to the original story, minus a few aspects. It’s pretty much The Jungle Book you know and love from your childhood. Bagheera and Baloo keeping Mowgli safe from Shere Khan. Which I guess kind of begs the question, was this remake even necessary?

I think in a way, it does feel fresh, the biggest selling point being the heavy blend of CGI and live action footage. You couldn’t have made this film five years ago; it would have looked really naff. For the most part now it actually looks really good. There is a kind of digital sheen over the whole film but some of the characters are very photorealistic. Shere Khan looks like a tiger, in fact he looks so real that he is just as scary in this film as I remember him being in the animated film when I was about 5. There are the odd minor characters or little one off animals that walk in and out of the frame that look a little more digital than some, but for the most part you lose yourself in this world without noticing the seams.

The film boasts a very impressive voice cast, some of them more genius then others, Idris Elba as Shere Khan and Bill Murray as Baloo being the standouts. The one thing I was worried about the most was, would you believe these realistic looking animals could talk but thankfully you do, the voice work is very solid. The one hiccup of the film, and I hate to nit-pick a child’s performance, is Neel Sethi as Mowgli. Child actors are always hit or miss and it is such a shame that for the most part here, he is not that convincing. Movement is fine, he does make you forget that these animals weren’t actually there, but whenever he said a line of dialogue I did not believe a word he said.

Pacing wise the film moves along pretty swiftly and doesn’t slow too much. Tonally it is a lot more serious; however in the second act it does struggle with whether it should be a musical or not which was a little weird. One of the songs is worked in well, another not so much... The soundtrack overall though was great and really works to add to your emotional reaction.

Overall it’s a good film which is very visually pleasing. It has its problems but for the most part it’s enjoyable and a film your kids will be sure to enjoy, however do be warned that Shere Khan is very scary, even as an adult I was little bit on edge around his scenes but he really is the standout performance and character of the film. I am rating The Jungle Book a 3.5/5.

Have you seen the film? Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments below!

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Star Wars Episode 7!?

The news broke this morning that Disney have just bought the Lucas Film company and plan to make a new Star Wars film ready for a 2015 release. This of course sparked Internet outrage and as a massive fan of Star Wars I don't know whether to be excited or annoyed at the prospect of a 7th film in the franchise.

A lot of people are complaining that Disney will ruin the franchise but if you ask any major fans they will probably agree that the image of Star Wars was ruined when they released the first prequel. So why would they know go and make a sequel to the original trilogy?

Well for one reason we will no longer have George Lucas involved, or at least not in a directorial or producing role.In fact he is only going to be an outside contributor which kind of means he won't have much input. Which means we can get someone new to create a Star Wars film, including making a script which doesn't have bland and crappy dialogue. Now we can get some new fresh ideas to help restart the franchise and hopefully bring back the glory of when the first 3 films were released.

Where they go with Episode 7 is anyone's guess. Will Mark Hamil reprise his role as an older Luke Skywalker? Probably not. But hopefully Luke will play a background role in the new film, perhaps bringing him alive through the technology they used to create another Jeff Bridges in Tron Legacy. Will any of the original cast be back, who knows? I for one am anticipating where they hope to go with the new film.

In terms of who should be directing, I don't have a clue, there are the obvious choices like Joss Whedon and JJ Abrams, but I doubt that will happen. My guess it could be someone like Jon Favreau or Mathew Vaugn (could this be the reason he left the new X-Men film?). Whoever it is though will have a massive amount of pressure on them to create a Star Wars film that fans and critics alike will enjoy. May the force be with them.

When it comes to the script, I say hire one of the guys who wrote the well reviewed Star Wars novels or comics, surely their ideas would make a lot of sense in the development of the series.

I don't really see why making a new Star Wars film is a bad idea, surely this just help make the franchise live longer and hopefully become one of the biggest ever. I for one feel like a child again at the prospect of seeing another Star Wars film. In fact I am even more excited for 2015 as Disney will have hell of year, what with The Avengers 2 and Star Wars Episode 7. They are sure going to make a load of money! Lets hope both films are of excellent quality as well though.

2 and half years until a new Star Wars film, didn't expect to hear that this morning... What are your thoughts on a new film in the franchise? Please comment below.

Thanks for reading!