Remake Month: The Jungle Book (with Les)

Moviefan12: We have reached the final review here of Remake Month with the remake that is often considered the best. My reaction:


It's okay.

I personally think that people have overhyped this movie. It's not bad but there are remakes that are better than this one. Per usual, we will look at What's The Same, What's Different, and Is This is A Good Remake?.  However, I will not be doing this one alone as joining is a longtime Manic member, Les.






LES: Hi Moviefan and Greetings, Manic fans. It’s a pleasure to be working with you again, my friend. I’m glad you picked this remake to talk about. More than any other film Disney adapted from classic animated to live-action, I think this film justified itself the most(Although, in fairness, I’ve not seen ”Pete’s Dragon” yet, so I could be wrong about that….).

Moviefan12: It is interesting to consider how much Disney has returned to The Jungle Book long before this movie came out as seen with all these examples.

 

Consider for a moment that before this remake had been released in 2016, there were two TV shows using the Jungle Book characters and three Jungle Book movies released in that span from Disney. Yes, one was direct-to-video and was more a straight adaption of the book than a remake of the animated movie and a cheapquel that somehow got a theatrical release. Credit where credit's due, John Goodman is a great choice for Baloo and maybe even a better Baloo than Bill Murray.

Before we start, do you have thoughts on any of the other movies/TV shows featuring these characters, Les?

LES: Well I loved ”Tailspin” as a great expansion on the characters re-imagined in an anthropomorphic reality where they existed out of the Jungle and in a human-inspired city right out of the Saturday afternoon serial films of the 1940s. That was a lot of fun to watch. I also give props to ”The Jungle Book 2” as one of the better direct to video sequels in the Disney arsenal.

Moviefan12: With this outta the way, let's take a look at What's The Same.

What's The Same?

Moviefan12: Quite honestly, the core idea of this movie is the same when compared to the animated original as unlike the 90s Jungle Book movie and that does work and the cast does well in selling their roles.  Now while a lot of elements remained the same, there are ways that they amp up more such as Shere Kahn's fear of fire or you want to talk about amping things up, look how much bigger they made Louie and Kaa.

 




Looking at these characters is a perfect example of how the movie walks the line between doing its own thing while respecting the original.

LES: Agreed. This film did many things to change little things to make it it’s own story while giving proper respect to including a lot of nice homages to the original animated classic. Shere Khan was far more menacing and intimidating in this film, wherein the original, he was more, for lack of a better world, cultured and regal in his superiority. I also like how they didn’t touch the fab 4 buzzards scene from the original.

Moviefan12: That scene wouldn't have worked in this remake as it was going for a more serious route as compared to the animated movie. Now, let's move onto What's Different.


What's Different

I mentioned that this film was going for a more serious tone than the original and that is felt throughout the story. Another great example of this is the bond of family and how the wolf pack looks at Mowgli as a fellow cub.  With easily the most beautiful line from the movie.

Never forget this: You're mine. Mine to me. No matter where you go, or what they may call you, you will always be my son.

This line reminds the motherly/family bond that was found in the Pete's Dragon remake and I think like that film hearing Rashka speak these words to Mowgli shows great strength of love.  This also calls back another great mother/son Disney relationship.

Interesting how jungle moms have proven to be some of Disney's best moms.  Both of these moms have beautiful moments shows how much they care about their sons whereas, in the original, Mowgli being raised by wolves is really nothing more than a blip on the radar.




LES: That’s true. I also like how the wolf pack stood together at the end with Mowgli and Baloo. It was a great moment of ”united we stand” against their common foe, the tiger.

Moviefan12: You hit on a good point Les about Mowgli and Baloo standing alongside the wolves at the end of the movie. This also ties into the biggest change in the movie and one that goes about to the theme of family that runs throughout.  Mowgli stays in the jungle instead of going to the human village at the end of the movie. 

By subverting the ending and letting Mowgli stay in the jungle instead of having to live with humans, it is seen how much the animals have come to care about Mowgli and look at him as one of his own. Even if Bagheera doesn't like his traps that he tries to use to make his life easier.

LES: Not only that, but they also had Baloo encouraging Mowgli to use his ”Mancub” intellect to solve problems, rather than try and turn him into a bear, like he did in the cartoon.

Moviefan12: Another great point, my friend and Bill Murray does a good job as Baloo encouraging Little Britches.



Is This A Good Remake?

Moviefan12:  This is a perfectly fine remake that respects the original film while making its own path.  I can see how others might look at this as the best live-action remake but as I said, I think there are better remakes such as Pete's Dragon and Cinderella. Having said that, taking this movie on its own, this is really good and would be towards the higher end of remakes I watched for this event probably right above Lady and the Tramp but below Aladdin.







LES: And, since I didn’t see ”Pete’s Dragon” or ”Cinderella,” I’ll take your word that they’re better.

Moviefan12: I do apologize that this event took longer than originally planned but as fo now, I am done as I have looked at most of the current live-action remakes. This was admittedly a bit of a chore to get through as while there are some that were good, there are others that were just boring or outright bad.  I don't know if I'll look at any of the future remakes as this is something that I just wanted to get out of the way.  Thanks for joining me on this ride. And thank you to Les for joining me for this final review.