Mini Movie Reviews: The Jungle Book & Sing

This movie has gotten only praises as far as I can tell, and I can see why. The animation was stunning, and paired with the voice acting, I would say they nailed all the characters. Bill Murray in particular was fantastic and his version of Baloo really blew me out of the water. He was easily my favorite character in this film (which I'll touch back on in a moment). Neel Sethi, who played Mowgli, was also very good. I'm always worried about children actors, because you either have a  hit or a miss regarding their abilities, but I'd say Sethi definitely falls into the hit category and I hope he has a bright future in acting ahead of him.

The plot was slow for a long part of the film and it felt indeed like several chapters taken from a book. I must admit, I've never read the original story, I'm only familiar with Disney's previous animated version, so I don't know if the book is meant to feel like this on purpose. However, once Baloo showed up I was thoroughly involved and thought the stakes were appropriately high and the tension appropriately dangerous. His part in the plot also moved things forward and he served as a good connection between Mowgli's past and present without being the omniscient force that Bagheera was.

Overall this is definitely a film worth watching, though I am glad I didn't see it in theaters. For me, this is a sit-at-home covered in blankets film. While it would look absolutely stunning on the large screen I preferred the intimacy of watching it on my computer. Which, yes, it is on Netflix right now so there's little excuse not to see it (unless, of course, you don't have Netflix).

Since the first trailer jumped into my lap I have been anticipating this movie. It just looked adorable! And the cast is fantastic! And the music is fantastic! Really there's not much bad I can say about this film, so I won't.

I will say it a fun movie, but it's definitely a kids film. Don't take this to mean anything bad about it though! I certainly enjoyed it and I would see it again, but if this isn't your genre you already know that and you plan to stay away. 

I don't think it's destined to become a classic (not up there with How to Train Your Dragon or Shrek, is what I mean), though I am glad it was a good watch and I'm glad the general public agrees.