The Jungle book introduces Neel Sethi as Mowgli,the man-cub forced to flee the jungle after a threat from Shere Khan,who is voiced brilliantly by Idris Elba.The rest of the cast,including Murray,Kingsley,Esposito and Walken,are awesome.Lupita Nyongo is given very little screen time as Kaa.One of the only reasons to see this is to see the magnificent visual effects and voice cast.The problem is,if you've read the book,you've seen the movie,because this movie is so desperate to secure critical and commercial success,that it does not try to develop any storyline or move away from the book in any way.They're playing it super safe,and the death of Sher Khan by the fire is something already seen in the 1967 movie.Neel Sethi does well as Mowgli,the only human character in the film.
But this movie plays it safe - a bit too safe - to be memorable. You will probably forget it as soon as you walk out the theater.
But this movie plays it safe - a bit too safe - to be memorable. You will probably forget it as soon as you walk out the theater.