The Jungle Book

The story is the good and never too old Kipling’s classic enriched with a couple of contemporary metaphors, but when it comes to special effects it is a fantastic joyride through the Indian jungle, almost identical to Avatar. The action in the temple is big and thrilling. Kids will dread monkeys. Which is good. Walken as Louis slightly copies Brando in Apocalypse Now. Even the classic songs and scenes work well and the scenes with Baloo are just overflowing with optimism. (26/05/2018)

It's relaxing entertainment with a fantastic production design and unfortunately a few reservations, some of which are the fault of the Czech version (the songs have almost no energy) and some of which are the fault of the original (again the song, this time King Louie's, which doesn't really fit the scene, the underused snake Ka and the ending, which is surprisingly more fairytale-like than in the original cartoon). Otherwise, I liked The Jungle Book and I'm glad that Jon Favreau got the money for it after the general dissatisfaction with Cowboys & Aliens and that he did a good job. John Debney's music was also successful, relying mainly on well-known motifs, but he also has a few ideas of his own, and the best character is, of course, Baloo with Bill Murray's facial expressions. (20/04/2016)

An unadulterated, magnificent adventurous family film that pays homage to its genre and has a great chance of becoming a children's classic, which in a few years may have a status similar to that which The NeverEnding Story has today. Breathtaking visual and tricks, a gripping, moving and emotional story and a number of excellent, dynamically directed passages. (14/04/2016)

I do admit that at first I didn’t really feel like watching this flick. It was somehow getting under my skin that animals in a real, non-animated world could speak and that they spoke English. But after about ten minutes and several nice shots, I decided to bear with the film to see what would come out of it. I mean the book itself, written by Rudyard Kipling, had a very clever plot. And well, what eventually came out of it was one of the most beautiful digital films that I have ever seen. I don’t think you will be able to see such beautiful shots of the jungle anywhere else. It might be because of the digital effects. But it is a treat to watch it and once you’ve watched it, you will realize that you will never see a better adaptation of Kipling’s book in your lifetime. (01/11/2016)

Nostalgic escapism to the max. Two thirds pure pleasure from the creation of the world and a return to the values that defined me as a child, the last third a bit inevitable recognition that Favreau is not a magician, and if his cards are shuffled well, he simply plays a dignified game. Technically, it is without debate amazing, whilst the construction and gradation are slightly uncertain. But a few moments are not worthy of true emotion. (01/05/2016)