THE JUNGLE BOOK - review

THE JUNGLE BOOK
Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Neel Sethi, Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, Gary Shandling

Synopsis: A young boy abandoned in the forest is taken to a wolf pack by a sympathetic panther, who adopt him and raise him as his own. The appearance of a villainous tiger named Shere Khan forces Mowgli's guardian, the panther Bagheera to shepherd the child to safety in the "man village". Along the way, the boy meets an affable, lazy bear named Baloo, as well as a snake with hypnotic powers and an orangutan who wants to harness the power of fire. Mowgli learns some valuable life lessons along the way with his guardian Bagheera, his friend Baloo and his animal family. 

Hark, it is I, the Blonde Bombshell, queen of all things Disney, including my tattoos, and I'm here to tell you to forget about your worries and your strife, Jon Favreau has created a magical live action world that does justice to this much loved animated Disney classic. I'm not going to wait until the end to tell you this, THE JUNGLE BOOK deserves to be seen at the cinema on the big screen and you should bloody well fork out that 20-something dollars and see it. I've heard it's pretty good in 3D if you're into that sort of thing. I'm not, it gives me a rotten headache and makes me nauseated, but if you're into it, then hand over the extra 5-er for 3D.

This magical world created almost entirely with computers is so lush and realistic that it sucks you in and makes you believe you're really in the jungle. Fascinating work by Favreau, truly fascinating. I had some major concerns as I do with any re-telling of a classic Disney feature, and this is the third one that's come to our screens following MALEFICENT and CINDERELLA, and Disney aren't stopping there with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, DUMBO and MULAN coming just to name a few. But most of my concerns were allayed pretty quickly. Favreau does a great job with the story and even throws in a bit of LION KING-esque drama for good measure.

Raksha and Mowgli saying good bye

Image via Disney 

If you've seen the animated version, or read Kipling's book, you know the tale of the young man-cub Mowgli abandoned in the jungle, rescued by Bagheera the panther (Sir Ben Kingsley), adopted by wolves (Lupita Nyong'o and Giancarlo Esposito), chased by vengeful tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba), flees to the man village before realising with the help of Baloo the bear (Bill Murray) the jungle is his home and he must protect both it and his family. The jungle is fraught with dangers of course like a hypnotising snake Kaa (Scarlett Johansson) and an orangutan named King Louie (Christopher Walken) who wants the power of fire. So on and so forth until they all lived happily ever after.

The CGI in this film is pretty bloody breathtaking. It was a big ask to create a whole series of animals that we are all pretty familiar with and make them look realistic and make us believe that we really are in the jungle with the animals. I think Favreau and his team have done a pretty marvellous job with it. I've seen some great clips on how the green screening and CGI-ing and everything else was done, and it's a pretty cool process. The only thing I took issue with was Baloo, who wasn't as well crafted as some of the other animals, and King Louie, who was an unrealistic size for an orangutan. I work in a zoo with animals, and I've seen orangutan close up, and it was kinda out scale. In fact, even a week after seeing the film it still really annoys me, but no matter, he still looked bloody cool and Chrispher Walken as his voice was fantastic!

This is the closest we have come to getting a live action Disney musical, and I think that's partly because there would have been riots in the streets had "The Bear Necessities" not been included. Unfortuantely, they didn't quite make it work, That scene was really organic and the music came quite naturally, but "I Wana Be Like You" by King Louie was really awkward. There just wasn't the sense that the characters would just burst into song at any moment and that particular set of scenes was quite dark and the music made it really weird. Walken and Murray both did spectacular jobs with their songs, and I'm glad they happened, but I think Favreau could have done a better job at making them fit in the film, and in fact making the whole film a bit more musical.

Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo and Raksha prepare to battle it out with Shere Khan

Image via Disney

Overall, I think the biggest let down of this film for the general movie-goer is that they've seen it all before. Favreau's THE JUNGLE BOOK, does have a few extra plot points that the original animated film, however it's very much same-same and I think that could be problematic for some viewers. Not for me becuase I'm a purist, and I love Disney and I don't care that I've seen it 78 million times before, I still love it. I truly believe that you should see this on the big screen because they have really done something incredible with CGI here and I think it sets a benchmark for this kind of CGI work. Also, I really liked it and I don't think it will look quite so incredible on your TV screen or iPad or whatever technological device you use to view things at home. The film is shot beautifully and I think it takes you away into the world of Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo and Shere Khan and I don't think it matters that you know what's coming next, because you're so absorbed you don't even realise.

3.7  out of 5
Xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell

LEARNING TO DRIVE - review

LEARNING TO DRIVE
Director: Isabel Coixet
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson, Grace Gummer, Jake Weber, Sarita Choudhury, Avi Nash

LEARNING TO DRIVE

After an arduous 4 days in Darwin for an Irish Dancing Feis run wholly on Darwin time (my least favourite time keeping method), I dragged my sore and swollen body back onto a plane and fossicked through the film choices for something that I hadn't already seen. 

Flicking through what I already knew was a sucky assortment of films from the flight up (I watched some random film I'd never heard of called RESULTS, don't bother people), I could not believe my good fortune when I stumbled upon a brand new release that I was hanging to see - LEARNING TO DRIVE. I was so very pleased, almost as pleased as I was to be seated across the aisle from some very attractive peen owners who bought me wine. You might ask why I would need a film to occupy my time, and I guess that is a valid question, but I like movies, and also talking to people for 4 hours across the aisle and disrupting the world is difficult and apparently frowned upon by the people in front of me (grumpy old codgers). 

Anyway, I digress, I got that film on my trendy little airline in-flight entertainment ap, settled myself in across two seats and commenced viewing of the only film I hadn't seen, sans crochet because for the first time ever they made me check my hook (pests). 

The first thing you might notice, is how incredibly white Ben Kingsley looks compared to all the other Indian characters in the film, but before you rage out about white washing, just remember that Kingsley is of Indian descent, and you may remember him from such other films as GHANDI where he played the title character. I have to say that although the difference is glaringly obvious, you should try not to let it detract from your enjoyment of the film. 

Darwan and Jasleen at their wedding

image via Madman

Anyway, here's the deal, Wendy (Patricia Clarkson) is an upper-middle-class book critic whose marriage abruptly ends and she realises that she has to start doing all the things for herself, like driving. Darwan (Ben Kingsley) is a driving instructor/taxi driver who is in the country for political asylum. Their paths cross when Wendy leaves something in his cab and Darwan returns it the following day in his driving instructor car. Wendy decides to get lessons from Darwan and the pair share a journey of self discovery with chemistry that shines in this film. 

Wendy learning to drive under Darwan's careful instruction

image viad Madman

Wendy has to figure out how to cope with life on her own following the realisation that if she hadn't been so focussed on her one true love (books) then her marriage might have survived. As well as that there is a little mother/daughter struggle that must be resolved and her incredible fear of driving. Darwan has struggles of his own to deal with, a family that want to send him a bride, the constant fear of religious persecution, harassment and abuse, and a house full of illegal immigrants that could be taken away at any point including his nephew. Darwan has a calm and focus that balances Wendy's neurotic and erratic behaviour, and he teaches as many lessons by speaking as not. 

LEARNING TO DRIVE is a nice film. There's nothing to rave about and nothing to piss and moan about, it's just nice. There isn't anything new about this "two complete strangers find something in common" formula either. It's sweet, but it's a very stock standard storyline without many twists and turns along the way. The most interesting thing about this storyline is that it let's you believe that there is romance afoot for Darwan and Wendy. 

I'm pleased to say that both Kingsley and Clarkson really shine in this film, the film itself isn't anything super amazing and magical, but the two of them are. It's high time that Clarkson has a film in which she can be the true star, and this is a role that she was made for. You don't see a whole lot of the supporting cast, but Wendy's daughter Tasha (Grace Gummer) and husband Ted (Jake Webber) are well cast and do a lovely job with the limited screen time they have. As do Darwan's new bride Jasleen (Sarita Choudhury) and nephew Preet (Avi Nash). 

the little seen but well cast family of Wendy

image via Madman

It will appeal to the same kind of audiences that flocked to see THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, but it certainly doesn't have that same magic. I don't think I missed anything by watching this on my iPad via the snazzy in-flight entertainment ap, and I don't think you'll miss anything if you want to download this via Apple movies or other similar movie viewers, but if you're after something to take your Ma or Grandma to, then I don't think you'll regret spending the 20-something dollars on if you do go to see it at the cinema. 

3 out of 5 stars

xoxo 

The Blonde Bombshell 

SELF/LESS - review

SELF/LESS

Director: Tarsem Singh

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Natalie Martinez, Matthew Goode, Victor Garber

OK, so here's the deal, SELF/LESS is getting a pretty bum rap from a lot of critics out there, and I can appreciate why, but for all it's plot holes, replications, lagging and aesthetic blandness, SELF/LESS will have some appeal with the general public (GP). 

Here's how the film goes: 1%-er Damian Hale (Ben Kingsley) is dying. His body is riddled with cancer that cannot be cured, so upon finding a mysterious business card he discovers a man (Matthew Goode) and a company who can transplant his mind into a lab-grown body so he can go on living his life. Hale is the kind of 1%-er who thinks his cheque book can solve all the problems in the world, including the ones with his estranged daughter (Michelle Dockery), so he throws down 250 million big ones and goes ahead with this "shedding" process. In goes Hale and out comes Edward (Ryan Reynolds), not a bad trade if you ask me. 

waking up in a new bod - Ben Kingsley goes in Ryan Reynolds comes out 

images via Universal Pictures

Edward begins his rehab process, including getting a new life story, learning to be a human again (because apparently transplanting your brain into another body means you have to learn all your fine motor skills again), and taking the anti-rejection medication daily. One skipped pill leaves Edward crippled by hallucinations that feel way more like flashbacks, and leaves him questioning the whole shebang. Delving deeper into the whole mess he finds out that his brand, spanking new body is not actually brand, spanking new and once belonged to a man named Mark, who had a family and made a life changing decision to save his daughter. 

Chase, fight, chase, fight, blow torch, gun fire, chase, yell, frighten the hell out of people who thought you were dead, chase, fight, blow torch chase. Apparently the afore mentioned company doesn't want him to find out about the whole bod snatching thing (one can only imagine why), and the whole thing goes belly up. 

Tarsem Singh is an awesome filmmaker, giving us gems like THE CELL, and I had high hopes when I heard he was on board for SELF/LESS. Unfortunately he doesn't quite hit the mark with SELF/LESS, not all his fault - some blame must lay with the writers here. The film doesn't delve into the myriad of philosophical issues it raises and barely touches on anything with real meaning, which is a shame because it could have had much more depth than it did. Aesthetically the film didn't really work for me as well as some of Singh's other films, and the flow of the film was pretty clunky and lagged a little in the second half. 

There is a lot in this film that rings a familiar bell and that isn't surprising, there are ideas, themes and plot twists from pretty much every bod-swap movie ever made, in particular SECONDS, a piece of cinema from 1966 in which a wealthy but unhappy banker gets a facelift and ends up looking like Rock Hudson. Sadly all the borrowing makes the film feel very same-samey, and had the writers chosen to do so they could have made it less sci/fi-action and more sci/fi-drama and explored some of the issues the other bod-swap movies don't do. There's a veritable smorgasbord of options in the narrative of this film and no one even takes a sniff, let alone a bite. Shame I say. 

hello  blow-torch

image via Universal Pictures

Ben Kingsley introduces us to Damian as a cruel, heartless, 1%-er who cares for little more than money and power even in death. Reynolds' version of Damian is a reformed man with a heart that has appeared out of no-wheresville and doesn't gel at all with Kingsley's Damian. Massive plot hole there, both versions of the character are perfect for the part of the story they're in, but they don't go together, there is no character development that shows us how we get from one to the other. Matthew Goode brings a nice spark to his jerk-hole character (CEO of the shedding company, Albright), which had someone else played that role seemed stiff, but he brought a nice little something-something to life in Albright. The other supporting cast do lovely things with the little screen time they have, and in my opinion deserved more. Cut out the gratuitous and never ending action, and put a little bit more meat into the story!

I get the feeling that Reynolds is trying to branch out away from Hollywood heart throb to tough action guy (think Jason Statham style, who would have been a nice fit for this role), but I don't know that it's really working for him. GREEN LANTERN worked for him because of the genre and the romance in that film, and I am just not sure that sci/fi looks good on him. I mean, most things look good on him, but I don't think he's quite got whatever it is that this film needed. He brought a great balance of humor, emotion and action, but something about him just didn't sit right. Maybe it was the script, maybe it was him, maybe it's me type-casting him, I don't know, and I'd be willing to give him another try in a film like this to see what happens. 

Goode & Reynolds in a little shoot out - that's bullet proof glass yo!

image via Universal Pictures

For GP who aren't into this genre and who haven't seen a bod-swap film before, and are maybe only catching it to see what Hollywood heart-throb Reynolds is up to of late, then I think they will find the film full of exciting twists and turns, some great action scenes - hello blow-torch - and an all round decent enough film. For those who are into this kind of thing and are familiar with the genre, I think you'll be disappointed. Singh has put together an enjoyable film, but it is predictable and a bit flat which ruins all the good things he does do. Overall I think SELF/LESS could have been amazing, but it was just too much of a mish-mash rehash to make it. I don't recommend spending the 20-something dollars on this film, wait for it on Netflix or Foxtel or Apple TV or whatever medium you use.

2 out of 5

xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell