Long before Jon Favreau remade The Jungle Book into an engaging film that broke new grounds in computer technology, Disney decided to make another adaptation of The Jungle Book. This movie would be live-action, be more mature and intense than the original, and stick more faithful to its source material. This film would also borrow elements from Indiana Jones and the Tarzan books. The result is a film that while it did get good reviews and did well at the box-office, has been a film that time forgot. So, is this film worth watching? Let's find out!
After living in the jungle for many years, Mowgli (Jason Scott Lee), an Indian boy who has been raised by wolves, he discovers an all-new species of animal enter his turf: humans. Mowgli falls in love with a woman around his age named Katherine "Kitty" Brydon (Lena Heady), who is the girlfriend of Captain William Boone (Cary Elwes). Mowgli leaves the jungle behind and befriends Kitty, who teaches him how to be a gentleman. However, after hearing about the fabled ‘Monkey City’ located deep in the jungle, Captain Boone decides to get Mowgli to tell him the whereabouts of the city so he can steal its treasures.
The Jungle Book ‘94 has strengths in its jaw-dropping backgrounds, swashbuckling action, and a memorable score from Basil Poledouris.
Not to mention Jason Scott Lee does a good job as Mowgli.
Unfortunately, the film also has bad qualities. The animal characters don’t have real personality, nor do they talk, even though in both the books and the cartoon film, the animals actually could talk. Also, the movie feels more like Tarzan and Indiana Jones than The Jungle Book, and the movie has content that may not be appropriate for kids.
| Mowgli in Monkey City. |
In conclusion, give this movie a skip and watch Dora and the Lost City of Gold instead. Yes, it’s based on the most annoying cartoon of all time, but the film has impressive backgrounds and effects for its small 49 million dollar budget, a darker story that still stays true to its source material, and a strong performance from Isabela Merced as Dora Marquez. Here’s my review of that movie below.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5.
Sorry that I haven't posted a new review in a while. I was going to post my review of Mulan 2020 next week, but it unfortunately got delayed yet again to August 21st. With that cleared up, I will tell you what movies I review in the next four months: Jim Henson's The Witches and Mulan 2020 in August, The Water Horse in September, The Road to El Dorado in October, and, if it doesn't end up getting delayed again, Soul in November.
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