I’ll keep you near,” she purrs, coils slowly tightening.) And thanks to the equally delicious casting of Christopher Walken as King Louie, his offer of “protection” attains another dimension altogether. But Kaa, too (cunningly voiced by Scarlett Johansson), offers a beguiling-if presumably short-lived-intimacy. There is Bagheera’s plan for civic safety and Baloo’s Arcadian escapism, of course. Is there a place for him there, or does he truly stand apart?Įach of the animal principals, moreover, offer Mowgli a different path to follow. Mowgli’s journey is now a much more vivid transition from cubhood toward autonomy, his human “tricks” and tool-making cast in clearer contrast to the wildness of the jungle. Threatened with death by the tiger Shere Khan, Mowgli, accompanied by his paternal panther Bagheera, heads for a man village where he might be safe, along the way encountering such notables as Kaa the python, King Louie of the apes, and, of course, Baloo the bear.īut at every step, the director Jon Favreau and the screenwriter Justin Marks have enriched the narrative, deepened the themes, and ratcheted the tension and emotion alike to unanticipated levels. The story is the familiar one-loosely adapted from Kipling’s eponymous book of stories-of Mowgli, the “man-cub” raised by wolves in the jungles of India. But regardless it is a genuinely wonderful film, an almost overwhelming onrush of thrills, wit, and tenderness. The Jungle Book may or may not be a nostalgia-plying cash grab. And like those movies-and, to a somewhat more conflicted degree, Star Wars: The Force Awakens- The Jungle Book is proof that even the crassest commercial imperatives can be transcended when imbued with love and creativity. But then, I had presumed very much the same about Mad Max: Fury Road and about Creed, which turned out to be two of the most delightful cinematic surprises of last year.
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