The Jungle Book

This review was first published by The Student Pocket Guide

When it comes to Disney films, there are people who would defend their favourite to the death. The Disney canon is pretty much untouchable and any remake has to tread with extreme caution, should it destroy the nostalgic childhood memories of millions. The news that the studio was remaking its classic 1967 animation The Jungle Book was greeted with caution. The old phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” certainly sprung to the minds of many. Jon Favreau’s film, however, is not only a tribute to the 1967 version, but is also an exciting and luscious reimagining of Rudyard Kipling’s original text. Under such sensitive guidance, the question isn’t why remake it, but rather, why ever not?

The first thing that strikes you about The Jungle Book is how faithful it is to its two sources and how confidently it works with its narrative. The story, of course, follows the “man-cub” Mowgli (Neel Sethi) who is brought up by a wolf pack in the jungle after being rescued as a baby by the panther Bagheera (voiced by Ben Kingsley). His idyllic existence is threatened by Shere Khan (Idris Elba) – a ferocious tiger with scars testament to his encounters with man – who is determined to prevent Mowgli from becoming a man. Favreau’s film broadly follows the plot of the original, this time using stunning CGI to realise the animals in astounding detail.

The film’s opening scene sets the tone as Mowgli races through the jungle, an environment which is just as beautiful as the talking animals who move and, ironically, speak, with great realism. The CGI fur on the likes of Baloo and Mowgli’s wolf mother (played by Lupita Nyong’o) ruffles and reacts to Neel Sethi’s touch with genuine believability. There was no need for the film-makers to put Sethi in a cage with a real bear and incur the wrath of health and safety: the computer technology in creating the animals is flawless.

The first slinking glimpse of the imposing Shere Khan prepares you for the baritone voice of Idris Elba who gives a rumbling performance: if tigers could speak, they’d all sound like Elba. Ben Kingsley is equally as well-cast as the considered and wise guardian of Mowgli, and plays well against the laid-back, honey-loving bear Baloo, playfully voiced by Bill Murray. All these characters are set within the enveloping and ever-changing jungle, and Favreau (who also directed the first two Iron Man films) has certainly created a wondrous landscape for Mowgli to roam.

Although not a musical, the film does feature two of the iconic songs from the 1967 version (The Bear Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You) and blends humour with well-paced action which, during an exciting wildebeest stampede, draws on another much-admired Disney classic, The Lion King. Newcomer Neel Sethi bears an uncanny resemblance to his animated counterpart as he swings, climbs and jumps his way through the exotic and striking jungle, and Scarlett Johansson is sufficiently hypnotic voicing the huge snake Kaa. Mowgli’s run-in with King Louie (voiced by Christopher Walken with inflections of a Chicago mobster) makes for dramatic viewing which is equalled in the film’s denouement.

It is a film which explores themes of growing-up, identity and family with a warm heart and certainly offers something new to a modern audience. A paradoxical blend of twenty-first century film wizardry and good, old fashioned storytelling, The Jungle Book is the perfect example of a remake which not only does justice to the original, but builds upon its history to create something truly magical.

Clapperboard Rating: * * * *

The Huntsman: Winter's War

This review was first published by The Student Pocket Guide

You can’t accuse The Huntsman: Winter’s War of not looking great. Part prequel, part sequel to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, this film not only oozes with visual splendour, inventive production design and bold digital effects, but its star cast shines almost as much as the magical mirror on the wall. Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron reprise their fairytale roles, joined this time by Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt in what the trailers sold as a tale of sisterly rivalry and dark fantasy. Shame, then, that such a stellar cast is rather wasted in a film which lurches around all over the place, searching for meaningful themes and emotion which are lost in a screenplay with little originality and even less spark.

In many ways, it should be little surprise that The Huntsman is so visually-arresting. Director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan acted as the visual effects supervisor for the first film, and he maintains the rich and compelling imagery, centred on the two evil queens – Ravenna (Theron) and her younger sister Freya (Blunt). After suffering a heartbreaking loss, Queen Freya leaves her sister’s side to conquer her own ice kingdom, kidnapping hundreds of children to raise an army of huntsman. From this emerges the back-story of Eric, the Huntsman (Hemsworth) and his wife Sara (Chastain) whose forbidden love angers Freya, who is determined to rid her kingdom of the emotion.

All this happens during – and far away from – the events of Snow White. It is a plot device which explains the absence of Kristen Stewart (a result of, if you believe the rumours, the studio’s disapproval of her relationship with director Rupert Sanders) and which comes full-circle when Freya summons the soul of her sister from the magical mirror.

The central problem with all of this is that it feels very forced and is undermined by a script which seems to have been written by a committee of execs with their eyes fixed firmly on the bank. Having assembled a really great cast, the rather stilted dialogue and bemusing gear-changes of tone let down the actors who, it must be said, really do give it their best shot. Hemsworth’s easy screen charm carries him through the film and Chastain is as watchable as ever in role which gives Hemsworth a run for his money in the fighting sequences. Both, however, have strange accents which seem to flick between Irish and Scottish: a sort of “Och-aye-top-o’-the-mornin’-to-ye”. That said, their relationship is ten times more convincing than the chemistry between Hemsworth and Stewart in the first film, which would have failed even the easiest of GCSE science exams.

But it is Emily Blunt who does the most to dig below the predictable screenplay, attempting to unearth a tortured and sad character below all of the evilness which may have younger audience members asking their mum “why is Elsa being so nasty?!”. Blunt – resplendent in her flowing costumes and ice-white hair – flings ice sheets left, right and centre, and she really holds her own opposite Theron’s evil cackles.

Rather bizarrely, Rob Brydon and Sheridan Smith make appearances as dwarves – alongside Nick Frost and Alexandra Roach – but, again, their talents are underused. The dark tone in the opening half hour is soon dropped once Brydon et al join up with Hemsworth, and the band embark on a quest to stop Freya from capturing the magic mirror which would bring back golden-encrusted Theron from her Dior adverts. During many of these sequences, the script takes a distinct comic turn with much foul-mouthed banter between the dwarves which is sure to raise one or two eyebrows. Some even more perplexing sexual innuendo makes the film’s tone further confused – something which gives proceedings a chaotic, messy feeling.

Most of the entertainment in The Hunstman comes from its action and fight scenes, which are as frenetic as they are well-designed, and Hemsworth is certainly a capable leading man. The stakes, however, are never raised to the level they should be and the end result is a film which is not spectacularly bad, but really not that remarkable either. Freya may well be the queen of ice, but The Huntsman: Winter’s War will leave its audience out in the cold.

Clapperboard Rating: * *