The Jungle Book

Directed by Jon Favreau, based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories and inspired by Disney’s classic animated film, The Jungle Book is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray). Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire.

The animated version of The Jungle Book was one of my favorite movies growing up.  I would watch it all the time, so I was a little bit skeptical about a "live action" version of this movie.  I'm happy to say that I was wrong because this turned out to be great.  They pretty much stuck to the story and didn't make any massive tweaks or changes.  They even worked in some of the classic songs from the original.  The CGI on the animals was incredible and really made several scenes amazing to watch.  The only problem with this movie is that with the animals looking so lifelike that a lot of the scenes where they are aggressive are going to be absolutely terrifying for younger viewers.  

The Jungle Book was a great watch with amazing effects.  It did a great job of translating from the animated version.  Just be careful bringing young ones to see this because they will be scared several times throughout.