The Jungle Book, 2016 — ★★★★★
Tags: King Louie, Idris Elba, Drama, Ben Kingsley, Jon Favreau

I have not read the book by Rudyard Kipling. I have seen the TV series only in bits and pieces. So The Jungle Book in its entirety was a new story for me, along with the first time experience of IMAX 3D, I must say I am thrilled. From Kaa’s eyes to the Elephant parade, from the beehive to the arcane temple the movie is beautiful with a slight tinge of philosophy if you want to notice.

This is a story of a man-cub raised in the jungle. That is his home. He is a wolf even if he doesn’t look so. He has some tricks up his sleeve, but he is the most innocent and energetic one you’ll know. He knows no cunning, no hatred, no anger. Yet he survives and even trumps the laws of the jungle, and faces his fears. It is a story of courage, happiness, and the good life.

Jungle Book fits in that league of movies which blend animation with reality so well, that you can’t spot the difference. Earlier we have seen this in Life of Pi and Avatar. The movie looks beautiful. It is an experience. I am saying this probably because I saw it in IMAX 3D. I was part of the jungle jumping the branches of the trees and leaping on vines and roots. I was immersed in the jungle where you have to be quick and agile to survive.

Since the trailers appeared, the special effects and the supreme grade animation was making a mark. I wonder how they do eyes on a computer. May it be Raksha when she leaves Mowgli or the baby elephant when it looks with the curious expressions. This is the same art that goes in making idols. They say eyes are the toughest and generally made by the most skilled ones. Everything else can be managed, but the final touch has to be a veteran’s. It was fantastic to see expressive animals with proper lip syncs. Baloo was a little subpar in design but everyone else was in the same league. Looking at Raksha and Grey and Akela, I want to have my own pet now. The last I felt like that was after watching the dire wolves of the Starks.

The jungle has shades. As if it has moods and emotions. You see the wolf den to be high with energy, you feel Kaa’s lair gloomy and treacherous. You see the vast plains welcoming and the best is the Baloo’s area which just signifies the good life. These shades of the jungle are like a breathing character of the film. It is not a backdrop. It talks to you if you are willing to listen. I would love to see the movie again just for the depiction of the jungle.

We know the characters. We bring our prejudices as we see them. Some are shattered some get affirmations. Interestingly, I do not see Shere Khan as the villain. We look at the characters from the human perspective. He embodies the Jungle Law. Every animal is true to his nature. That’s what makes the movie pure. I loved the voiceovers. Scarlett Johansson the best. Her sultry voice was enough to create a female lead in Her, and here she creates Kaa like no other. Loved Ben Kingsley and Idris Elba too. Neel Sethi has really embraced the spirit of Mowgli. He looks the part already, and his innocence and charm win you over in no time.

That’s not a song, that’s propaganda! — Baloo

If you want to look deeper, though it is not needed, you find a lot of philosophy in the content. Wolves are very similar to men. Their pack, the way they stay together is uncannily similar to human colonies. I do not know if Kipling took that into account but Bagheera taking Mowgli to wolves is strangely serendipitous then.

The similarities between male wolves and male humans can be quite striking. Males of very few other species help procure food year-round for the entire family, assist in raising their young to full maturity and defend their packs year-round against others of their species who threaten their safety. Male wolves appear to stick more with that program than their human counterparts do. Biologists used to consider the alpha male the undisputed boss. But now they recognize two hierarchies at work in wolf packs — one for the males, the other for the females. Doug Smith, the biologist who is the project leader for the Yellowstone Gray Wolf Restoration Project, said the females “do most of the decision making” for the pack, including where to travel, when to rest and when to hunt. The matriarch’s personality can set the tone for the whole pack, Dr. Smith said. — Source

The quote which I put up was a blow. It was so unexpected that I suddenly started seeing more than a children’s tale in this film. If you want to look deeper, it is more than a moral tale. It is a fight between the one stands alone, vs the collective benefits. Mowgli becomes incidental.

There is a reason I said Shere Khan is not the villain. He respects water truce. He is a carnivorous animal. He attacks the man as it is his nature. If you take out the line about he killing for pleasure, which I believe makes him villain, all the other actions are justified from his standpoint. He is afraid of the red flower or fire. He says a man has no place in the jungle because he is not meant to be here. He wants to eliminate that threat. He knows the devastation the red flower is capable of. He wants the jungle to remain free from that kind of terror. He knows the only way to act on it. Eliminate the threat. I don’t see it as a bad thing.

Ambition. I guess that is a human character trait. None of the characters apart from King Louie exhibit that. How interesting it is that he sits in the ruins of man’s work. It is as if human traits still linger in the ruins of that temple. They have corrupted the souls of the animals that dwell there. He wants to rule. He want’s to control and move up the value chain. All that is so typical of a man.

I guess now I have started to look for things that may not be there. I should stop. It happens when some movie or music takes hold you, mesmerizes you to a point where it starts to bleed into your psyche. This movie and the IMAX experience did that to me.

The movie worked for me. In every possible way. The music, the voiceovers, the effects. Even though I had not seen the series in my childhood, nor read the book, the movie won me over without nostalgic influences. This movie is definitely recommended. Preferably an IMAX experience or else 3D is a must.