This review contains spoilers!
There's no question that the animated feature, 'The Jungle Book,' is a classic Disney film. So, upon hearing that Disney was deciding to recreate the story into a live-action movie, I was intrigued. The cast definitely seemed promising. I was already interested when I discovered that Ben Kingsley would be playing Bagheera and Bill Murray would be the beloved Baloo, but then I also heard that Scarlett Johansson was the voice of Kaa and Idris Elba the fearsome Shere Khan, and I was completely on board. Yet, despite these stars being part of the reason I watched the movie, the ones who stole the show for me were Neel Sethi as Mowgli, Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha, and Christopher Walken as King Louie.
Mowgli was strong, brave, and resourceful, and Sethi was able to portray all of this while maintaining the youthful innocence of the man cub. His relationships with Baloo and Bagheera were just as lovable as they were in the animated film, but what I especially appreciated was how his relationship with the wolves was expanded upon. The wolves' loyalty toward each other and toward Mowgli was touching, especially Nyong'o's performance as Raksha, his wolf mother. The scene between them when they forced to part brought tears to many an eye in the theater.
King Louie was another character that was expanded upon in this adaptation: literally. He is portrayed as a giant orangutan, while in the animated film he is only slightly larger than Mowgli. Christopher Walken voiced Louie's speaking and singing voice, and his rendition of "I Wanna Be Like You" was fun and had me almost dancing in my seat.
Unfortunately, Elba and Johansson's performances fell a little flat. I remember always being terrified of Shere Khan in the animated film, and while Elba certainly had a strong presence, Khan just was not as scary as I had expected him to be. Additionally, Kaa's role was smaller than it was in the animated film, and I felt that Johansson did not have much to work with in that sense.
Lastly, the ending. I completely expected Mowgli to be escorted back to the man village and be lured in by a girl, just as he was in the original film. However, as a kid, I had always sort of regretted that ending. He couldn't just leave behind the jungle, it was his home! What about Baloo? He couldn't leave Baloo!
So, when, at the end of the movie, he stayed with his wolf pack, little kid me was thrilled. It made me love the movie all the more. While it made sense for the animated Mowgli to go to the man village, it also made sense for this Mowgli to stay with his pack (including Bagheera and Baloo), the only home and family he ever knew.
The entire movie was spent showing how Mowgli didn't belong in the jungle because he was man, that he wasn't supposed to use his "man tricks" because that wasn't the way the wolves lived. But, by finally accepting and embracing his differences, he was able to use them to his advantage and live happily in the jungle, which was his true home. He didn't need to go to the man village to live a full life.
He just needed the bare necessities: the jungle and his pack.
