Written by Logan J. Fowler and Justin Matchick
.jpg)
Release Date: April 15, 2016
Starring (the voices of): Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Christopher Walken, Lupita Nyong’o.
Director: Jon Favreau (Iron Man 1 and 2, Cowboys and Aliens, Chef, Elf)
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: Disney has been cranking out live action adaptations of their animated classic films a lot over the past few years. Next up is The Jungle Book, based on the 1967 cartoon movie and the book of the same name by Rudyard Kipling. Not the first Disney movie I’d think of that would get an updated treatment in the real world, but yet, here we are.-LJF
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: It seems like Disney is going all in on the “live-action remake of classic animated film” idea that started with Cinderella and now moves onto The Jungle Book. The Jungle Book was one of my favorite movies of the Disney canon as a kid, although I haven’t seen it in well over a decade. Will the trailer for the remake rekindle my childhood interests? – JTM
Rate the Trailer: 2 point 5 out of 5. There’s nothing really here that amazes me. The trailer tries to go for an epic scope and I appreciate that, but at the same time, I don’t feel super intrigued. The CGI looks good but the animals talk so it’s also weird. And Mowgli just jumps from places to other places and walks. I don’t know. It’s just kind of blah.-LJF
Rate the Trailer: 3 out of 5. It seems like Jon Faverau is trying to shed anything saccharine from the original animated film and is instead crafting the story into a full fledged jungle epic. I did enjoy the short whistled tune of “Bear Necessities” at the end of the trailer, which is really the only clue that this is directly based off of the 60s animated version. The Scarlett Johansson voice over as Kaa throughout the trailer did work very well, but I am somewhat disappointed that the overall visual style seems to be so dark and brown. Many scenes in the trailer are just a bit too dark to see what exactly is going on, and while the dingy look to the film might make for a more realistic looking jungle, it is a sharp contrast from the colorful original. – JTM
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? No Thanks. I never saw the animated Jungle Book film and I don’t really plan on seeing the live action version. I just don’t find it interesting in the slightest. I like some of the music; that’s been the only real enjoyment I’ve gotten from the first film. Otherwise, I’m putting this Jungle Book back on the shelf.-LJF
Theater, Rent, Undecided, No Thanks? Undecided. I feel like I’d want to wait for a second trailer on this one. I’m hoping much of the lightheartedness in the original is still a part of this film, but since this was mostly a trailer to show of the visual style of the film we will have to wait and see. – JTM
The Jungle Book Opens Up April 15th, 2016
=========================================================================================================
