When I was at the D23 Expo in Anaheim last August, I got a super sneak peek at The Jungle Book. While the clip was literally seconds long, I knew instantly that it was going to be a hit. Fast forward to earlier this week, when once again I got another sneak preview …. though this time it was to screen the entire film in 3D at the famous El Capitan theater in Hollywood!
To say The Jungle Book is good would be a gross understatement— The Jungle Book is FLAWLESS!
From beginning to end, The Jungle Book sucks you in for a visual ride, where the world is so realistic you’d swear that it wasn’t CGI.  Other than Mowgli, every other character and detail is computer generated. If you know this going into the film you will simply be amazed. It’s definitely along the lines of Avatar for jaw-dropping effects, and it MUST be seen in 3D to achieve the full viewing experience.
Beyond the CGI, which again, will blow you away, the story of The Jungle Book has been re-imagined from the 1967 animated classic which was based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories. The new live-action version, directed by by Jon Favreau, still centers around Mowgli (Neel Sethi), a man-cub raised in the jungle by a family of wolves, who embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery when he’s forced to abandon the only home he’s ever known.
Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba) is definitely darker (and scarier!) this time around, as is King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), which could be a concern to parents of very young children, even with the PG rating. If your child scares easily, especially when characters pop out unexpectedly onscreen, you may want to preview the film first.
The rest of the cast includes favorites from original, including Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), Baloo (voice of Bill Murray), Raksha (voice of Lupita Nyong’o) and Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson). And though this version isn’t a musical, you’ll still enjoy new renditions of the classic tunes, most notably “Bare Necessities”.
The message in The Jungle Book is fantastic, which makes it the perfect family film. I cannot wait to see The Jungle Book with my husband and 11-year-old daughter this weekend.
https://youtu.be/McZyOEekZy4
