Coastal View News
Stories like “The Jungle Book” are precious—they are treasures.
For so many of us, they are iconic, nostalgic, formative, and not to be messed
with.
One thing that is kind of cool about “The Jungle Book” in particular—the
story, that is (I assume we are all familiar)—is this series of tests or
temptations that the little man cub, Mowgli (Neel Sethi), faces. Each peril is
a little bit different, packs its own punch, and has its own moral.
There is of course the peril of Shere Khan (Idris Elba)
throughout. This awful tiger wants to kill Mowgli just because Mowgli is a man
cub. It’s a rush to judgment, sure, but he is after all a tiger. Plus, someone
has to be the big baddie.
But then, as Mowgli flees his home to get away from Shere
Khan, he faces a series of less obvious, less straightforward trials. The
snake, Kaa (Scarlett Johansson), attempts to woo Mowgli into a false sense of
security—she tempts him with comfort.
Baloo (Bill Murray) also offers comfort to Mowgli, but in a
different way. Whereas Kaa tests Mowgli’s ability to sense danger or discern
who can be trusted, Baloo (who can be trusted) presents Mowgli with the allure
of laziness—a complacent sort of comfort. It’s the pleasure of just staying put
and taking it easy through life.
King Louie (Christopher Walken) offers Mowgli power. Louie—a
mix between Donald Trump and a mob boss in this one (well, maybe that’s all the
same)—wants fire, and promises to
share his dominion with Mowgli if he helps. (But, of course, we all know the
power hungry aren’t good at sharing.)
In each of these cases, there is something good (or
seemingly good): Comfort, ease, power. It’s nice to be reassured when we are
scared (though not squeezed to death ala Kaa). It’s great to lay back and take
it easy with friends. And who doesn’t like a little say-so here and there?
Still, these are temptations. If
Mowgli holds them too close, or becomes too wrapped up in them, he will perish.
Perhaps his biggest temptation is to stay put—to not move on
when he ought to. He faces this temptation when Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) urges
him to leave his wolf pack and go to the man village. And, according to the standard
version of the story, he faces it at the end, too. Mowgli has to move on.
Staying put is not an option in life.
My main problem with this rendition of “The Jungle Book” is
that it is not sufficiently reimagined. There is no new angle or spin—not even
a fresh thematic or narrative emphasis. Look, I like “The Jungle Book” story. Who
doesn’t? But this movie just feels like a CG version of the old one. Or, even
worse, it feels like a somewhat clumsy CG copycat of the old one (with a lamer,
lazier ending). I guess I had hoped that someone with a fresh take on the story
would breathe new life into it.
You might respond, “So what if it is nothing new. A good
story is a good story.” Maybe, but it’s kind of like when there is this really
great story that your grandpa used to tell, but that your Uncle Bill starts
telling because he thinks he can, and he tells it in this weird booming voice
as if he is adding his own little twist. It may still be a great story, but no
one wants to hear good ol’ Bill tell it.
“But the CG is amazing! And the cinematography is great!,”
you might say. Yeah, all right, but it is still CG. And maybe it’s just me, but
I have an upper bound on how awe-stricken I can get by CG.
You might retort, “But, c’mon, Bill Murray as Baloo and
Christopher Walken as King Louie—you can’t beat that!”
Well, fine, you got me there. Murray and Walken can’t be
beat. They do a great job. They add serious warmth and personability to this
movie.
But is that enough? Not this time.
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