The Jungle Book Review

Plot: The orphaned man-cub Mowgli (Neel Sethi) has lived all his life in the jungle with his wolf family and panther protector Bagheera (Ben Kingsley). When Shere Khan (Idris Elba) – a bloodthirsty tiger – learns of Mowgli’s existence, he makes it his singular goal to hunt and kill the boy. Concerned for the Mowgli’s safety, Bagheera sets out to return him to his own kind.

Disney’s original animated adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s novel is a classic; full of charm, humour and iconic moments, so I was initially very skeptical of the idea of a live action/CGI version. Any worries I had were quickly forgotten after the first few minutes of this film, which as it turns out, is easily on par with the 1967 animation.

Director Jon Favreau’s take on the tale doesn’t just bring fresh visuals to the table; there are a lot of surprises here even for people familiar with the story and the new material never strays too far from the path of its animated predecessor. This is after all a remake of the original Disney adaptation, and there are constant reminders of this found in its cinematography, dialogue and most noticeably soundtrack. Only two songs from the animation have made it into this film, but both of them are done well and – despite going ‘full musical’ – never took me out of the film.

Neel Sethi is the only actor to give a live action performance in the film and is instantly likeable as Mowgli. His interactions with the lifelike, CGI animals are convincing and the actors voicing them bring their own flare to the jungle creatures. Bill Murray’s Baloo and Christopher Walken’s King Louie were my personal favourites and both soaked up the spotlight whenever they were on screen.

Verdict:

The Jungle Book offers plenty to gawp at; from stunning backdrops to exciting action sequences, and thanks to strong performances, solid screenwriting and the quality of a classic tale, it’s a success that will both surprise and delight movie-goers of all ages.

5/5

Inside Out Review

Plot: Emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Anger (Lewis Black) and Fear (Bill Hader) make up “headquarters” – the central control room of 11-year-old Riley’s brain. As Riley suffers from a life changing event, emotions Joy and Sadness find themselves thrown from headquarters and into the outer sections of Riley’s mind. They must learn to work together in order to get back to headquarters and stop Riley from loosing who she really is.

Comparing Pixar’s Inside Out to Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi heist Inception might sound odd, but hear me out. If you’ve seen Inception you will have likely noticed how well the film takes something ordinary that we all possess and makes it extraordinary – everybody dreams and so everybody can relate to the rules of the film’s dreamworld. In the same way everyone has emotions and, like Inception, the rules of Inside Out build on this familiar concept in an extraordinary way. Mood swings, nostalgia, trains of thought and more are all present in this fun, colourful take on how the mind works.

Inside Out is likely to be the most upbeat film about depression you’ll ever watch, with the absence of Joy and Sadness leaving Riley with only anger, disgust and fear to keep her company. Dealing with a topic as serious as this and managing to keep it funny without watering it down is one of Inside Out’s greatest strengths. The other would be its world building – headquarters is only a tiny part of Riley’s mind and some of the film’s best gags come from its exploration of other areas including dream productions, imagination land and the subconscious to name a few.

Joy and Sadness share an interesting relationship, with their polar-opposite personalities gradually pushing forward the moral of the story. There are also some solid supporting characters such as Riley’s imaginary friend Bing Bong (Richard Kind) who steals the spotlight whenever he’s on screen. It’s characters like these that give Pixar films that special something that puts them a notch above your average children’s animation. In doing so many Pixar films broaden their audience-appeal and their latest release is no exception – Inside Out is too smart to be just for kids, it’s a true family film that you can appreciate whatever your age. JC

Verdict:

Smart, likeable and very funny. Inside Out is a film that’ll keep your own emotions busy throughout.

4/5