It is hard to live up to one’s predecessors, especially when that predecessor is an acclaimed Disney classic. “The Jungle Book” is retold in this live action as a somewhat darker tale, a big change from the sing-along kids movie.

Instead of living with humans, Mowgli initially lives with wolves; that may seem a far cry from wolves, but his wolf-mother, Raksha, appears to love him just as much as any human. The struggle as he tries to find his way in the jungle is really convincing. That is not to say that he has difficulty finding his way in the jungle physically: he traverses the canopy with the skill of a monkey.

The animation of the animals was fantastic, none of them were disproportional and they moved like actual animals. King Louie in particular was rather terrifying: his monstrous size and malicious demeanor make him even scarier than Shere Khan.

Shere Khan was an even better villain in this than before. Rather than being some distant threat, Shere Khan was portrayed as a vicious tyrant as he terrorized the denizens of the jungle in pursuit of Mowgli. The action scenes, almost all of which involve him, put me on the edge of my seat every time. The realistic animation made it feel like Mowgli was actually going to be mauled by a tiger.

Bagheera was an enjoyable character to watch– his british accent fits his severe demeanor almost uncannily. It was pleasing to see how much he really cared for Mowgli, even in the face of the massive royal bengal tiger hunting them.

Thankfully the movie was almost entirely made up of CG, including the other characters. Mowgli did not find himself having to talk very often, which is good because he was not particularly great at it.

While I would not take my hypothetical children to see this movie, I would urge anyone to see it. Despite the changes made from the original film, which left many fans angry, it is still worth watching. Very very few movies will get a perfect score so this one will get the next best thing.

Score: 9/10