So what is Jungle Book about exactly? That is the question I find myself struggling with when writing this review. On the surface, it's about a boy who was raised in the wild, and now to protect him the Panther who originally found him is going to take him back to live with humans so young Mowgli can avoid crossing paths with the Tiger, Sheer Khan. Really though the Tiger has almost no presence most of the movie, and we are basically just seeing Mowgli himself goofing around with a variety of animals on his travels.
So I guess that's what Jungle Book is about, so I feel that's how I should be judging it. Looking at the movie like that, I think it does a good job. Carrying on the increased focus on musical numbers we saw in Sword in the Stone, pretty much every section of this movie has a song. And quite honestly they are all pretty good and catchy. I like the touch where they had a real Jazz singer come into voice and sing the part of King Louis, and Bear Necessities is always a classic.
Outside of the music, each scenario is comprised of comedy bits. Much of the comedy coming at the expense of Baloo and Bagheera. None of the stories feel like they are building to anything specific, so despite them all being a lot of fun, it can feel like the movie is just kind of pointlessly meandering about. Yeah, it's fun to see all the different animals that are references to musical artists (Louis being a callback to Louis Armstrong and the Vultures a clear Beatles reference), but none of it is building to anything more.
And despite having very little screen time, Sheer Khan himself is an appropriately vicious figure when he does show up. There is a level of viciousness and arrogance that he manages to portray that makes him feel like a threat with little to no time to get to know him. You feel that Mowgli is very much at risk here, and not in a fun way like with the orangutans from earlier in the show, things manage to feel very tense at the end.
I'm not entirely sure what to make of the themes of the show though. Mowgli wants to stay in the Jungle, and the whole movie he is making new friends and learning more about the world he doesn't want to leave. But the moment he sees a pretty human girl he wanders off to join the village. I'm... not sure what I was supposed to take away from all this and it frustrates me. It seems clear that the movie had something to say, just not what that something was.
In the end, though it's a fun movie. Where the plot lacks it makes up for with some really fun songs and a lot of funny scenes. If you're looking for strong themes or an in-depth plot you're going to be wanting, but if you want to watch a fun little musical romp through the Jungle, this movie will not disappoint.
Also, unrelated to the review, you may have noticed I'm currently uploading Daily. This will be happening for a while, as I was recently exposed to someone with Covid in the Workplace, so I'm on a two-week Quarantine to make sure I didn't catch it myself. This means I have loads of free time to do more uploads for a couple of weeks. Using this to catch up on all the Disney Movies I still have to review, as well as finishing anime from this past season, so look forward to more regular uploads for a little over a week now!
Edit: I am aware this is posted in the wrong community. It's not letting me delete or reblog right now for some reason (I assume it has something to do with the HF and updates) so..... I guess it's just kind of stuck here now. :(
