"The Jungle Book" (2016)

I'm not sure what inspired me to watch this movie in the theater, but I can tell you, this proves how starved we are for craft. This movie is really well made, but woefully dull.

The heavy lifting was already done for director Jon Favreau. Structure in place, we now add in the rudimentary man vs. nature that we've seen throughout...ALL of Disney. Man sucks. In fact, there are several nods to the far better "Bambi." Though this isn't a true animation, I really really miss the 2-D world Disney use to be known for. Too bad.

I won't bog you with the story, because you should read it anyway, but it is a boy who is raised by wolves to live in the...jungle? Never do we get a true eco-system. I know..."The Lion King" circle of life message is passe. We're stuck with the predecessor to "Tarzan." Ballsy as they are with this movie, they actually rip off the ending of "Tarzan" for this movie. The ending, in particular is that jungle surfing crap they did well in that one. Here...the kid is running. Okay Vanilla Ice.

Also, much has been said about the computer graphics here. They're good, but nothing that would ever trump real interactions. It's clunky. Which...again, may prove how stupid this society is. They don't now who talks and when. Or when to interact. Some animals talk, some don't. I get it...it's for kids, who won't ask these questions.

The humor...well, let's be clear...where the fuck are we here? IF it's pre-1800's or earlier, why is Bill Murray (as Baloo) cracking wise in his usual schtick, while Sir Ben Kingsley is going about it more regally. Cool with the contrast of character, confusing if you're really thinking about it.

It's not a terrible movie. I hope you don't get that from reading this. It's just...such a plain movie for being as successful and well reviewed. Not that I expected much, but when Christopher Walken is...who the fuck knows what he's trying to do...grossly out of place. Well, when he is playing a mobster simian, we're grasping for so many straws. It's a pretty brutal weird movie at times. Having what amounts to a cameo by Scarlett Johansson was really odd. No reason to get kids into theater for that. And...when you start to agree with the villain, something is clearly awry with the story. Or...the story has to go that direction to satisfy the hero.
I give this flick a massive "meh."