The Jungle Book (2016)

Jodi, who's a harsh critic, recommended this so highly that we saw it Friday and agreed that it's sensational. Based on the Rudyard Kipling books and the 1967 animated feature, director Jon Favreau's Iron Man fingerprints are all over it, including violent battles between anthropomorphic creatures. Apparently, though it's technically a live action picture, the greater percentage was created on computers and the adorable Mowgli, Neel Sethi in his feature debut after one short film, inserted among the talking animals.

We wish we had known in advance that the late Garry Shandling (had a cameo in Iron Man 2) plays the porcupine. When you see it, watch for his lines. You won't have any trouble picking out Bill Murray (last blogged in Rock the Kasbah) as Baloo the bear and Christopher Walken (most recently in Jersey Boys) as King Louie the giant ape. Ben Kingsley's (last in The Walk) voice, as Bagheera the panther sounds an awful lot like Patrick Stewart's, and I was glad we were alone in the room so I could look up the cast on my phone. Idris Elba (most recently in Thor: The Dark World) is the snarling tiger Shere Khan, Lupita Nyong'o (last voiced a character in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens) the wolf mother, and Scarlett Johansson (most recently quite funny in Hail Caesar!) the hypnotic python. The real stars, though, are the hundreds of tech folks, creating a realistic world of computer generated fantasy.

I figured the hit song The Bare Necessities would figure in somehow and was pleasantly surprised when Murray sings the whole thing. It's reprised by Dr. John and the Nite Trippers over the credits. Walken sings a great cover of I Wanna Be Like You and Johansson sings Trust in Me. Three of these (no Dr. John, sorry, you have to buy it for that) are included in the soundtrack playlist streaming on youtube which features exciting music by John Debney (last scored Draft Day). If you're feeling nostalgic, you can stream the soundtrack of the older movie here.

We saw it in 3D and thought it was great. If you don't care so much about the special effects, the DVD is estimated for August 2016. Almost everyone agrees with Jodi and us--95 and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. The MPAA has rated it PG. Some kids will definitely be scared.