Movie of the Week: The Jungle Book

Introducing Movie of the Week, where we recommend the hottest films to catch at the theatres every week! The live action/CGI remake of Disney’s classic The Jungle Book directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) is the movie to watch this week!

Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a human boy raised by the Indian wolves Raksha (Lupita Nyong’o) and Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) ever since he was a baby and brought to them by Bagheera the black panther (Ben Kingsley). When the fearsome scarred Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) threatens his life – since man isn’t allowed in the jungle – Mowgli leaves his jungle home. Guided by Bagheera and Baloo the bear (Bill Murray), he sets out on a journey of self-discovery while evading the man-hunting Shere Khan. Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who do not exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (Scarlett Johansson) the python, and the smooth-talking Bornean orangutan-resembling Gigantopithecus King Louie (Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly “red flower”.

Not convinced yet? Here are 3 reasons why you have to catch this live-action adaption this weekend!

#1 The Stellar Cast

When you have names like Bill Murrey, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson and Lupita Nyong’o as part of the voice cast, be sure that they’d be able to bring life into the classic characters we grew up watching!

Bill Murrey as Baloo

Ben Kingsley as Bagheera

Idris Elba as Shere Khan

Lupita Nyong’o as Raksha

Scarlett Johansson as Kaa

Giancarlo Esposito as Akela

Christopher Walken as King Louie

#2 ‘The Bare Necessities’

This is one of our favourite Disney songs and we can’t wait to see how it’s like in the live-action movie! Here’s a comparison of the original versus Bill Murrey and Neel Sethi singing a short snippet of the song.

Though Neel Sethi is a bit off tune, we still love his energy! He’s no singer for sure, but let’s just give that boy a break.

#3 The Stunning Visuals

Did you watch the trailer with a full screen? If you didn’t, watch it again in full screen! The breath-taking visuals completely created by computer animation is filled with some of the most beautiful landscapes and creatures. We know that this world doesn’t exist IRL, but it’s impossible not to be drawn into the world.