Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Disney's 'Jungle Book,' an instant hit


All hail the Republicans who cometh in Disney's "The Jungle Book" (2016).

For a good ride, don't miss it, and try to see it in 3D or IMax.  I can only imagine the effects.  Well worth the price of admission.  I just saw it in a regular theater without the fancy stuff.  I didn't even know about the fancy stuff 'til I started writing this.  Sigh.  Almost worth seeing again to catch it at IMax.

I've been wanting to see "The Jungle Book," and since nothing else nearby earned a respectable Rotten Tomatoes rating from the audience (the critics' opinions are often "yeah, yeah" and untrustworthy), finally I went.

And, I'm glad I did.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you're never too old to enjoy a good tale, and this one is spot on.
Mama said there'd be days like this in Disney's "Jungle Book" (2016).  My, what big teeth come out.  I know some snakes who talk, too.

From the beginning, "The Jungle Book"'s animation will take your breath away, matched by the incredibly fantastic music and sound.  Without the visuals, the orchestration is so good it could stand alone.

How can you stand a film without sex?  Or F and S-bombs?  Exposed breasts? We knew they were unnecessary and usually gratuitous and "The Jungle Book" is proof. (I hope there is a social scientist somewhere working on the number of obscenities per movie and how well they do at the box office.  I want to read the report.  Do more obscenities spell higher ticket sales?  And vice-versa?)
And you thought you needed to lose weight?  But this guy will surprise you with the speed he's got in Disney's "The Jungle Book."  Hold on!

"The Jungle Book" is a bit too intense for the young (under age 7; rated PG)  and sometimes for the old (honestly, I had to look away a time or two, especially when the male-cub star picked up a snake skin so large it could have been a flying carpet.  Attention:  Madam Snake is coming! It's so frightful...that creepy, crawly snake which slithers onto the screen at the edges before you know she is really there, and why are the good guys all males?  Ahem.)  

But, besides danger and its immediate impact, "Jungle Book" is loaded, and I mean loaded, with rapid fire action and whirl, and I imagine Disney is working on a new ride called Jungle Book, and I can't wait to hop, ride, or swing on.  

Will we ride a bear and jump in the swiftly roaring river?  Rescue a baby elephant? Leap through trees? Climb? (Did you think about his bare feet?)  Never mind what Neel Sethi (the star as Mowgli) ate (or didn't) and how did he get that cover-up?  Did it expand as he grew?  Who cares?  This is make-believe, I think. With a splash of humor every now and then.  And songs.

I think Rudyard Kipling would be proud.  Makes me want to read the book. But, Rudyard, Red Flower?  Dear Rudyard:  Seems like Red Menace would have been a better label.  

Switching to the current century: Like everything else, human actors are being replaced by technology.  Welcome to the land of it's happening. 

Kudos to the director, Jon Favreau, and his team of thousands.  Watch how the film was made here.

patricialesli@gmail.com 

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