There are a lot of remakes being made in Hollywood right now and Disney is no exception. While this isn’t the first live-action remake of a Disney animated movie (there was a previous live-action Disney version of “The Jungle Book” back in 1994), it seems that more and more remakes are being made thanks to the sleeper success of the Tim Burton version of “Alice in Wonderland”. While some of the remakes tend to be not particularly (e.g. 2014’s “Maleficent”), others like this particular remake are exceed expectation.

This remake of the “Jungle Book” has an outstanding voice cast. Idris Elba is a perfect fit as Shere Khan. Elba gives Shere Khan that threatening edge an antagonist like him needs. Bill Murray is also great as the comic relief Baloo. The scenes involving Baloo gives a much needed comedic break from the darker scenes of the movie. The film also has a great supporting cast that involve the likes of Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito and last but definitely not least, Christopher Walken.  

In past movies that contain talking animals tend to come off as awkward with uncanny valley results due to CGI being in its infancy. This remake of “The Jungle Book” shows how far we’ve come in terms of CGI. The character animation is very well-made considering the fact that they’re animals. The most expressive of these characters is Baloo. Despite looking like a realistic bear, his facial expressions and mannerisms are quite impressive.

What slows this movie down is the actor who plays Mowgli, Neel Sethi. A lot of child actors can be unconvincing due to their inexperience and young age. This wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that he’s the lead.

Overall, this is a visually impressive movie from director Jon Favreau that pays homage to both the Disney animated film and the namesake book from Rudyard Kipling

SCORE: 4/5