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

THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY - preview review

THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY
Director: Matt Brown
Cast: Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons, Toby Jones, Stephen Fry, Devika Bhise

Synopsis: Growing up poor in Madras, India, Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar earns entrance to Cambridge University during World War 1, where he becomes a pioneer in mathematical theories with the guidance of his professor G.H. Hardy. 

Hello there friends. It's been a while. I've been trying to catch a few films here and there, but that bloody thing called life keeps getting in my damned way. Between working my "real" job, working at my passion job, and trying to find time to spend with my SO and friends, I haven't had 5 seconds to myself, let alone two hours to catch a movie. Luckily for me, I had a minute to myself on Friday and I took myself to the preview screening of THE MAN WHO KNEW INIFINITY. I didn't know too much about it, but I like Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons and Toby Jones, so I figured it couldn't be all that bad, and I have to say I was right. It wasn't all that bad. It could have been better, but it wasn't all that bad.

THE MAN WHO KNEW INIFINITY is a pretty standard paint by numbers biopic of Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel), one of the greatest mathematic minds of the 20th Century. He overcame poverty and hardship, all the odds were stacked against him, but he never ceased to believe he was on the verge of something great. He fought his way into a job, got someone to take notice, sent countless letters to people, until finally someone stood up and took notice. That someone was G.H Hardy (Jeremy Irons). Hardy brought Ramanujan to Cambridge and set to work on proving the mathematical theories that were spewing forth from his beautiful mind. Pushed by Hardy, Ramanujan worked at his proofs, and solved such great mathematical mysteries such as partitions (look at me talking about it like I know math and stuff). A fascinating tale for a non-mathematically minded person such as myself.

THE MAN WHO KNEW INIFINITY delved into this world, but focussed mainly on the notional story, the one that will connect itself to the wider audience. I didn't mind that so much, if it had been purely focused on the math I would have been like a small child lost in the vast chasm of a shopping mall.

                                  

However, I can imagine the frustrations of someone who does know math (like my SO who studied quantum mathematics - what?!) when the film does little more than glaze over the mathematical genius behind this story.

Patel is no stranger to playing the loveable character who overcomes all odds to succeed (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL to name a few), but the familiarity of the character does not do justice, his loveable-ness did not exude the sheer intellectual brilliance that I think Ramanujan should have had. Not to say that Patel didn't play the scripted role well, he did, but I think the script failed him in this instance. Jeremy Irons lucked out with the character of Hardy, a stubborn cantankerous atheist Prof who struggles with personal interactions. That character was meaty and well written, and Irons was brilliant in playing it. The rapport between Irons and Patel as teacher and student, atheist and believer, and eventually friends, carried this story, the pair are lucky they had a great on screen chemistry otherwise it would have lost me.

Patel and Irons strolling the grounds of Cambridge University

Image via Warner Brothers Pictures

The side story about his wife and mother left behind in India, did nothing for me, it was predictable and distracting. I appreciate that it was meant to show a driving force behind Ramanujan's work, mind and increasing loss of spirit, but the constant flashes back to that world interrupted my viewing. It will connect the audience on an emotional level to the characters and the story, I don't doubt that. Everyone loves a good star crossed lovers theme with a meddling mother, but there was too little of it to be of significance, and too much of it not to be disturbing. They either needed to make more of it or leave it behind on the cutting room floor.

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The thing that got me in the feels was Ramanujan's deteriorating health and eventual death, it left me wondering how much more could have been achieved if this great mind had survived in the world. Imagine all of the accomplishments that would have got a little mention in the closing credits if he had been able to continue his work, just imagine.

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Overall I think the general movie goer is going to enjoy THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY, it gives a glimpse into the life of a mathematical genius, and there is enough to tug on the heartstrings and keep you connected to the characters. I just think it's a bit sad that after two hours, I still don't really know what the hell he managed to do and why it was so important. The little mentions in the closing credits expressed some pretty important stuff, like using his theories to do stuff with black holes and the like. That seems like a big deal to me (although really what do I know about math?!), and I think there should have been more attention paid to the mathematical breakthroughs.

3 out of 5 purple hat wearing aliens

Xoxo The Blonde Bombshell