New Jungle Book Movie Got Mostly Positive Reviews From Top Critics
New Jungle Book movie got mostly positive reviews from top critics. Recently, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures released their new action,fantasy,adventure flick, “The Jungle Book,” into theaters this weekend, and the verdict is in from the top critics about how they felt about it.
It turns out that most of them really liked it, giving it an overall 78 score out of a possible 100 across 42 reviews at Metacritic.com.
The movie stars: Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Giancarlo Esposito, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Neel Sethi and Scarlett Johansson. We’ve included comments from a few of the critics, below.
Joe Morgenstern from the Wall Street Journal, gave it a really great 100 score, saying: “The new production, computer-animated except for a living, breathing boy at the center of the action, isn’t pretty or sweet but utterly stunning, as well as very funny; all those vaudeville antecedents haven’t been forgotten.”
Matt Zoller Seitz over at RogerEbert.com, gave it a 100 grade as well. He said: “In every way, this quietly majestic film should be considered a triumph.”
Chris Nashawaty from Entertainment Weekly, gave it a 91 score, saying: “The Jungle Book is a tender and rollicking fable that manages to touch on some grown-up themes about man’s destructive power and the loss of youthful innocence without losing sight that it’s first and foremost a gee-whiz kids adventure.”
Kenneth Turan over at the Los Angeles Times, gave it a 90 grade, stating: “By turns sweetly amusing and surprisingly unnerving, crammed with story, song and computer-generated visual splendors, it’s such a model of modern crowd-pleasing entertainment that it brings to mind a celebrated quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald about filmmakers who were “able to keep the whole equation of pictures in their heads.”
Peter Travers from Rolling Stone, gave it an 88 score. He said: “A visual marvel that cuts a direct path to the heart.”
Ann Hornaday over at the Washington Post, gave it an 88 grade, saying: “Filmed with dynamism and propulsive, energetic flair, The Jungle Book allows viewers the vicarious pleasure of sidling up to magnificent (sometimes mangy) beasts as if they were household pets.”
Richard Roeper from the Chicago Sun-Times, gave it an 88 score. He said: “Thanks to director Jon Favreau’s visionary guidance and some of the most impressive blends of live-action and CGI we’ve yet seen, The Jungle Book is a beautifully rendered, visually arresting take on Rudyard Kipling’s oft-filmed tales.”
Andrew Barker from Variety, gave it an 80 score. He stated: “Maintaining the buoyant heartbeat beneath all the digital flash, Favreau never loses sight of the fact that he’s making an adventure story for children.”
Alonso Duralde from TheWrap, gave it an 80 score, claiming: “It’s a testament to the total-immersion powers of The Jungle Book, from its visual splendors to its sound design, that the seams never show; even more impressive is the film’s use of its craft not merely to dazzle us but also to further its dramatic agenda.”
Michael Phillips at the Chicago Tribune, gave it a 75 grade, saying: “Director Jon Favreau’s voice cast for the animals is tiptop.”
Kyle Smith from the New York Post, gave it a 75 grade, stating: “Probably no studio mulls its “brands” as obsessively as Disney does, and The Jungle Book is very much a careful, calculated brand extension, not a reinvention. But that’s just fine: What better lesson to teach kids than respect for what came before you?”
Ty Burr at the Boston Globe, gave it a 75 as well, claiming: “The chief attraction of the film is the ersatz India created by the pixel pushers at special effects houses WETA Digital and the Moving Picture Company.”
Todd McCarthy from The Hollywood Reporter, gave it a 70 score. He said: “Even as the drama and its treatment become increasingly conventional and familiar as the film moves toward its patly (and arguably overly) audience-pleasing wrap-up, the exceptional visual quality and lifelike animal renditions remain stunning throughout.”
Stephen Whitty at the New York Daily News, gave it a 60 score. He said: “Has the bare necessities, but not much more.”
Lastly, Manohla Dargis over at The New York Times, gave it a middle of the road 50 score, stating: “While this The Jungle Book is lightly diverting, it is also disappointing, partly because it feels like a pumped-up version of Disney’s 1967 animated film, with more action and less sweetness. It also feels strangely removed from our moment.” Stay tuned.
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