1st this is certainly not the first remake of the 1942 movie which was a bit of a different story and plot. While the 1942 movie was the original, it's usually the 1967 animated version from Disney that is best known. The 1967 one's plot has been done over and over especially in the 90s where several little kids TV versions and a badly chided movie were common. The first one was a great movie in it's 1940s time. Most people then thought it was great to be able to see all the animals. But now most people, jaded by better TV and movie productions no longer have interest in the really poor use of fake, stuffed animals used in the 1942 one.
This 2016 version was closest in plot to the 1967 animated musical which is the most popular version. This one is not nearly as musically inclined like the 1967 one was. The animal songs in the 1967 one were exceptionally great. Frankly, I hope to never have to hear Bill Murray sing again as he did in this version. It was absolutely the most awful singing of "Bare Necessities". It was just absolutely out of tune and no sense timing. Murray sang it like he was drunk or stoned. Of course he thought he was being cute and funny. But frankly he ruined his song. The well produced bluesy, jazzy numbers of the 1967 songs were mostly mutilated in this movie. The one pleasant exception was Christopher Walken's version of the "I wanna be like you song". He added ape sounds to just the right places in the song so you knew it was the ape's song. But still pales next to the 1967 singing.
The place the movie did excel was in the CGI creatures. The talking CGI animals were a great way to make the imagination grasp the crazy theme that is Jungle Book. That was a good deal better than the 1967 animations of the boy and animals jumping, hopping and climbing in very unrealistic animated ways. The plot was mostly the same as the 1967 one with only a few differences, mostly in it's ending.
There's not a lot of sense in fully discussing the plot of a title that has been done over and over again. Not much to give away here. Almost everyone has seen some similar version of the Jungle Book. Just read the movie descriptions and you'll get what you need to know. One thing about this version is some of the big name actors that signed on to do voices. Just look at IMDBs cast list and you're bound to see some very famous actors and comedians.
The problem with this movie isn't that it's a bad movie. It's not. But frankly I found myself wanting to go back and watch the much better 1967 animated musical version and did. If you are going to do a remake, you need to improve on the original as it will be compared with the other versions. And other than the CGI, this movie failed to be as good as the 1967 version it was modeled after.
This 2016 version was closest in plot to the 1967 animated musical which is the most popular version. This one is not nearly as musically inclined like the 1967 one was. The animal songs in the 1967 one were exceptionally great. Frankly, I hope to never have to hear Bill Murray sing again as he did in this version. It was absolutely the most awful singing of "Bare Necessities". It was just absolutely out of tune and no sense timing. Murray sang it like he was drunk or stoned. Of course he thought he was being cute and funny. But frankly he ruined his song. The well produced bluesy, jazzy numbers of the 1967 songs were mostly mutilated in this movie. The one pleasant exception was Christopher Walken's version of the "I wanna be like you song". He added ape sounds to just the right places in the song so you knew it was the ape's song. But still pales next to the 1967 singing.
The place the movie did excel was in the CGI creatures. The talking CGI animals were a great way to make the imagination grasp the crazy theme that is Jungle Book. That was a good deal better than the 1967 animations of the boy and animals jumping, hopping and climbing in very unrealistic animated ways. The plot was mostly the same as the 1967 one with only a few differences, mostly in it's ending.
There's not a lot of sense in fully discussing the plot of a title that has been done over and over again. Not much to give away here. Almost everyone has seen some similar version of the Jungle Book. Just read the movie descriptions and you'll get what you need to know. One thing about this version is some of the big name actors that signed on to do voices. Just look at IMDBs cast list and you're bound to see some very famous actors and comedians.
The problem with this movie isn't that it's a bad movie. It's not. But frankly I found myself wanting to go back and watch the much better 1967 animated musical version and did. If you are going to do a remake, you need to improve on the original as it will be compared with the other versions. And other than the CGI, this movie failed to be as good as the 1967 version it was modeled after.