Jungle Book

PG
Starring: Neel Sethi and the voices of: Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito and Christopher Walken
Running Time: 1 Hour and 45 Minutes

Adapted from the Rudyard Kipling classic, "The Jungle Book", this  Disney movie was spectacular and visually stunning. The storyline is very similar to the original 1967 Disney classic but with Mowgli portrayed by a real human boy (Neel Seethi) and all of the animals were computer generated images that were absolutely incredible and extremely life-like!
The scenery virtually transports you to the jungle and you genuinely feel like you are right there along with Mowgli.
Mowgli was separated from his father as an infant during a fire and Shere Khan (Idris Elba) the very evil and conniving tiger killed his father and made it his life's mission to find and capture the
man-cub Mowgli.
He tries desperately to hunt the young child but Mowgli was taken in by the wolf-pack, the sweet mother Raksha (Lupita Nyong'o) who loves him like one of her own Cubs and the alpha-male Akela (Giancarlo Esposito).
Mowgli also encounters the kind and noble Bagheera (Ben Kigsley) who befriends and protects him. Mowgli being an inquisitive young boy always finds himself in dangerous situations! He is lured deep into the forest where he is surprised by Kaa (Scarlett Johannson) the sultry and mesmerizing gigantic Indian Python snake whose underlying motive is nothing less than to enjoy devouring every inch of Mowgli!
He is fortunate to stumble upon the always comedic and lovable bear Baloo (Bill Murray) who seeks him out to retrieve honey for him and they form an enduring bond. That brings us to the monkey encounter! Mowgli is approached by monkeys, many, many monkeys! They take him against his will to the temple and bring him before their King, King Louie (Christopher Walken) the enormously  monstrous orangutan who has summoned Mowgli for his human ability to start fire also known in the jungle as "red flower". Fortunately for Mowgli, Bagheera and Baloo have teamed up to help rescue him from the very persistent King Louie!
BYU film school graduate Brigham Taylor helped produce this version of "The Jungle Book".
 I found this movie to be as touching as it was beautiful! I thoroughly enjoyed this portrayal of the classic story.
Parents be advised: this movie is rated PG. I honestly think it could have been rated PG-13 because it was very dark in spots and extremely serious as well. These encounters of young Mowgli were life and death situations! The tiger Shere Khan, the Python Kaa and King Louie were very scary and intimidating characters. I think children ages 10 and over will be fine with this movie. Below that age the children might be frightened.
I am giving "The Jungle Book" four bags of popcorn.