Yesterday we had the pleasure of seeing The Jungle Book (2016). I’ve neither read the books of Rudyard Kipling nor seen the previous (1942) Disney version of the movie, nor any of the other related movies, shows, etc, so I can say with virgin eyes that this was a interesting, even gripping movie of the young Indian boy Mowgli and his frenzied attempts to survive the vengeance of Shere Khan, the Tiger. He leaves his home in the jungle, risking all as he breaks the law of the pack, heading towards the man-village and the purported safety it offers. His adventures can be heart-stopping or amusing, and the good friend he makes turns out to be a good friend, indeed, even if I did not believe that bear could climb a sheer cliff wall.
The melding of CGI with live action is excellent – while once in a while I felt an action didn’t quite follow the laws of physics, and of course that giant monkey was way out of bounds, once you get beyond talking animals (and you really should) the movie seems quite believable in terms of visual impact.
Overall, I’ll recommend it. I haven’t decided if I’ll ever isolate the themes, but one appears to be the importance of diversity.
BTW, popcorn at the Chanhassen Cinema is rather tasteless and overpriced.
