Critical Review - The Jungle Book

Date night this week...a 'surprise' trip to the cinema. I didn't know what we were going to see, until the classification screen came up....'The Jungle Book'...

I had not seen any reviews. WOW!

Here's the 'making of' official trailer and the director sums it up, both from a technical viewpoint and a storytelling viewpoint..."What makes it possible to make this movie 'now' is the technology to make photo realistic animals animated.......Films have to be an emotional experience for the audience. You have to tell a good story. I wanted to hold that standard. If I am engaged emotionally with the characters, all the spectacle was worth it."

The technical expertise was incredible and the shot sequences were amazing. The opening sequence sees Mogli being chased by wolves....there is one particular shot where Mogli shoots along a tree branch away from the audience...instead of powering behind Mogli, the camera pulls with full force in the opposite direction, drawing us as the audience backwards with G force speed...the result is that Mogli seems to run even faster.

I was struck by how the animals were not only realistic in their appearance and movement, but that their inherent character wasn't diluted, made frothy or made simple in anyway.
I was completely convinced by the acting of all animals and their interaction with Mogli.
Other than a couple of shots, namely the Panther (Bagheera) running up a cliff, or slumping onto a tree branch) I couldn't tell at all what was CG and what wasn't.

I would love to be on a crew that created such a masterpiece. What a joy to experience.