THE JUNGLE BOOK REVIEW: Kipling's timeless classic on screen!

Some tales are timeless, last year’s Cinderella was one of them. This year we get Kipling’s classic retold to us. Not essentially anything new, but the appeal of The Jungle Book makes us curious one more time. The important word here is ‘retold’! Some classics can only be retold, not reinterpreted or restaged, which means absolutely nothing about the story is touched or changed, the original is that perfect.

Writing a review for such a movie is a relief, because you know that there can be no spoilers to give away. Everyone comes to this movie because they already know the story and want to see it one more time. So here we have our dear Mowgli, running through the jungle with his pack, training to be a good wolf, training to be fast enough to join the council. But, there is something about him that is different, he isn’t a wolf after all, but the wolves love him enough to see him as one of them. The alpha of the pack, Akela, keeps watch as Mowgli tries to fit in but invariably stands out, with his tricks. The jungle is quite accepting of the idea that a man cub is growing up amongst them, one guesses that is mostly to do with the reverence they have for Akela, more than the benevolence they have for the kid. But, there is one who has no reverence for Akella, or for anyone for that matter – the most powerful beast of the jungle, Sher Khan the tiger.

It is Sher khan against the wolves who want to protect the child. But, nature is so built that the underdog rarely has any chance in a fight. A mongoose always gets the better of a snake, a cat always catches the mouse, and so the wolves know that if it comes to a tooth and nail fight, they stand little chance against the might of the tiger. So they decide the wise way, until Sher Khan decides that their wise move was really stupid!

The best thing about this Jungle Book retelling is

the screenplay. Taut and swift, it wastes absolutely no time in getting down to the point. There is the obvious advantage that most audiences already know the characters well enough, and so the writers go straight to the central conflict after a few establishing minutes. Voice overs are used at exactly the right places to speed up the narrative and before you even know Sher Khan is chasing Mowgli through a grassland as a herd of wild bores run helter skelter, in one of the most arresting scenes of the film. You begin to think that the movie has gone into a serious tone and it does look so for a while with the dark jungle and a huge snake, but then out of the blue comes the most lovable character of the entire Jungle Book, Baloo. His arrival takes the movie to a fun level that it has not been to before. In fact, the brief period where it is just Mowgli and Baloo going after honey and preparing for ‘hibernation’ is perhaps the best passage of the movie. The lines written for Baloo are absolutely top notch, especially when he terms the ‘Law of the Jungle’ as ‘propaganda’!

We could go on all days about how adorable Baloo is in the movie, in the voice of Bill Murray. It is actually redemption of sorts for bears because they were being hated a lot after the mauling Di Caprio received in The Revenant. But, there are other characters too, like the ever reliable Bagheera, the loving mother in Raksha, the wolf pups and the elephants. You will really enjoy the way Raksha’s expression and voice have gelled together to give her that warmth on screen. Then, there is Neel Sethi who does a top job as Mowgli. But the director must have been careful with the body language. Some gestures and expressions obviously do not belong to the jungle, and are straight out of the city. And, some of the dialogues too could have been better. You get a feeling at times that too much is being said, when the proceedings on screen are obvious. Also, the King Louie episode is not as engaging as we think it might be, partly because the King breaks into a disjointed song in the middle of it. One also wonders how Mowgli is able to talk with most animals without any trouble, while monkeys (technically closest to him in evolutionary terms) can’t talk!

Well, these are just small things. This retelling of Jungle Book does absolute justice to the original

work and our memories of watching it on TV. The screenplay is fantastic, the animation is superlative, the story is timeless. Enjoy the Jungle Book one more time. 'The strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf'!!

Genuine retelling of a timeless tale!

3.5/5

JUNGLE BOOK: The Return of Mowgli and friends!!

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THE WALK

When an entire script is built around a single final incident, the entire film making process becomes a tight rope walk! In many ways The Walk is much like a heist movie, except no one is being robbed here, but all things in the movie lead up to the final coup, which is what the protagonist likes to call the act that he committed. That is pretty much what the movie is all about. The director make no attempt to hide where the story is going, everything is laid out right at the start. You are told that this is going to happen; just sit back and watch how it happens. Now that will work only when the final event is worth the wait even when you know what it is! Is it worth the wait? Absolutely! It is possibly one of the craziest things ever attempted. If there is anything even crazier, a movie has to be made about it.

Starting in the idyllic locales of France, The Walk traces the journey of Philippe Petit as he goes from

Paris to New York in search of the ultimate high wire! Yes, the movie traces his growth from the wonder eyed kid who just wanted to get onto wires tied higher and higher and higher. Of course, it is not something anyone can do or perfect without being taught the vitals of the trade and that is where comes Papa Rudy, played quite masterfully by Ben Kingsley! The exchanges between the master and prodigy are some of the best passages in the build up to the final act. How the master breaks the ego of his pupil, how he imparts him the small nuggets that will one day make him steady on the highest wire ever, and how they finally realize that they have perhaps built a bond that is greater than master and pupil!

The other element that adds charm to the build up the coup is of course the relationship between Philippe and Annie. We are not sure what it is, whether the really are in love, or are they just admirers of each other’s craft, and the way it ends does leave us a bit flummoxed. But it adds color and charm while it is there. The other factor that keeps the movie going without a boring phase are the accomplices who join along the way, the best perhaps being the mathematics teacher who is terrified of heights! Also, the guy who wants to be involved in anything that is ‘high’ is hilarious. Every accomplice brings a different shade which holds the script together until the final act takes over.

Once the final act begins, it is just the two towers, the wire and the man on it. The process of getting

the wire up too is told in quite a taut manner, with the final few minutes of the set up, and the ‘unknown visitor’ being the best parts. And then in his own words, ‘he shifts his weight and becomes a wire walker’. The next 20 minutes or so, watch it in theaters because they are absolutely arresting. There might be moments in the movie where you wonder how a movie about a coup can be so deprived of excitement. The answer is that Robert Zemekis knew that he had enough ammunition in the final act to make up for anything that you felt was missing in the preceding time.

The set-up of the high wire, the actual execution of the coup of getting up on the tower without authorization might look a bit watered down, a bit plain. But, one thinks that is how it was intended, to be kept real and not unnecessarily dramatic. The background score remains true to this feel.

We are taken through the movie through the memories, eyes and voice of Philippe Petit played with infectious enthusiasm by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It is his mischievous demeanor that makes us believe that he really means to pull off this outrageous stunt. Of course he has his outbursts, he has his doubts, but he never takes a backward step. And if he is fire, Annie is the ice and Charlotte Le Bon brings all her calmness on screen.  The only thing one felt could have been different about the movie is the constant voice over that is being given by Philippe who is narrating his story to us. Yes, there are points where his explanations let us grasp things that are not too obvious, but he really doesn’t need to tell us how he feels on top of the high wire because we can see the spectacle for ourselves.

That is what The Walk is all about, a calmly and surely built stage on which a mind blowing spectacle plays out for a short time. Take this Walk!

Watch it for the arresting finale!

3.5/5

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

It started off slowly as a simple fun movie with no big ambitions. Now, it has quietly crept up and become a franchise that has its own following, mostly kids and the parents they bring along. It has to be admitted that while everyone enjoyed the first installment of Night at the Museum, no one imagined that we would be having part 2 and now 3. Franchises usually require at least one big star, or at least one well known character, but Ben Stiller and his museum exhibits have chugged along quiet well.

When you walk into Night at the Museum, you know

what to expect. All exhibits coming to life, a big racket about a small problem that means nothing to anybody outside the doors of the museum, lots of tongue in cheek fun, infighting, buffoonery and a happy ending. It’s a movie where the entire world shrinks into the museum and we love that coziness, which is why people are still watching it.

In its third installment, Night at the Museum tries nothing much different. It’s the same characters all over again, so there is no time wasted in explaining anything about anyone. But, this time, the setting of the action shifts to London after beginning in New York. So, now we are in the British museum with the magic tablet, which means that a lot more guys are coming to life. Of those who do, the most notable is the most famous knight ever, Sir Lancelot. His introduction is real fun as he takes on a triceratops skeleton. Of course, we later meet a Pharaoh of Egypt, and his queen, who wants his staff kissed before offering any help to anyone. The most fun, however, is the miniature Garuda who jumps and rants around to prevent the new Yorkers from awakening a monster. And, the Pompeii episode is also a bit of fun that ends with an ‘unnecessary splash’.

But, the shortcoming with the Secret of the Tomb is that the central problem, the actual thing that brought the night guard and a few exhibits to London, looks really silly and watered down when ultimately answered. It looks like a problem that could have been solved by a walk in the park. But then, to complicate and excite things, one of the characters suddenly has to turn villainous. All this does is just to stretch the yarn that is already worn thin. The opening scene of the movie had taken us to Egypt and the actual discovery of the tomb and the tablet. And there was an old man saying ‘The end is coming’. You thought it really pointed to something big and important. When you finally learn what it was all about, you wonder what the fuss was for. It is the very flimsy theme that plays spoilsport to Secret of the Tomb.

However, one must admit that it is fun to be with old friends again. Octavius and Jedediah are a

funny pair to watch, Atilla is huge but adorable, Sakagaeawah is adorable and Robin Jackman as Presiden Roosevelt (boy won’t we miss him) is perfect as ever. And, there is a new Neanderthal named Laa who is attracted to the night guard at the British Museum. How can we forget Dexter the capuchin, the very life of the franchise. And, Ben Kingsley gets a couple of scenes as the Pharaoh and pulls off a couple of funny lines with ease. You will also be amused by the Hugh Jackman (or Huge Ackman as he is mistakenly called) cameo.

It is the familiarity with characters, that feeling of meeting very close friends again that keeps Secret of the Tomb afloat. Funny situations and exciting moments per se are really lacking in this third installment of the franchise, all thanks to a wafer thin plot. But, you might still find yourself smiling, and occasionally laughing, and also hoping that a fourth movie is made, only this time with a better plot.

 Familiar friends make you smile!

2/5

Hugo: Visual treat, adventure, tribute!

It usually doesn’t take such a long time for a Martin Scorsese movie to arrive in India; Hugo, however took more than four months. If you have followed Martin Scorsese’s films for a while, the initial reports about Hugo would have surprised you a great deal. Yes, Scorsese and a movie about a boy? That’s the last thing you expected from a man who has mastered the art of making dark and rugged films that deal with the thoughts, insecurities and ambitions of the adult world. His films never had innocence or charm. Could Scorsese make a film for children? Hugo answers that question.

Set in the early 20^th century in Paris, Hugo is about how a boy turns around the life of a man who thinks that the world has forgotten him for good. Hugo Cabaret’s life takes a miserable turn when he loses his father in an accident. He is left to fend for himself in the bowels of the Paris railway station, winding the huge station clock everyday. He also has to contend with the one-legged police inspector who seems to derive pleasure from sending children to the orphanage. Hugo has but one hope in life, to get an automaton to work, which, he thinks, holds a message from his father. His efforts to get it working, however, land him in further trouble. But, this time, destiny seems to be taking him somewhere, it introduces him to a curio shop owner (though not the most favourable way to meet a person) and it also gives him a new friend. The automaton works, and reveals something that neither of them even thought remotely possible. What is it that the automaton told them?

Hugo is as much about old George Melies as it is about Hugo Cabaret. In fact, it is more about George Melies, through the efforts of Hugo. The film is foremost, a visual treat. Martin Scorsese lets go of his dim lit ways and brings us a bright and colourful Paris railway station that bustles with activity. The interiors of the clock tower are also quite masterfully shot, the view of the city from the top is also wonderful. Literally, every frame charms you and the 3-D takes effect at all the right places; watch the scene where the pictures fly about in the room.

The film is a bit slow to take off. It meanders about a bit before taking on a steady course. At first, you wonder whether Martin Scorsese has got the balance wrong, making a children’s film that is too slow, verbose and morose; it wouldn’t appeal to children, would it? But, give the film that much time to firmly establish its premise. Then for a bit, it looks like a regular kids’ adventure of meddling with things and stumbling upon something really interesting. But, it is after this that the plot gives you the most pleasant surprise. You realize that this is more than just a movie; it is also a rich tribute to cinema itself; to the pioneers who envisaged the art of moving pictures when no one thought it possible. The short capsule where George Melies narrates his life with the movies is really exquisite- it starts right from the Lumiere Brothers. You get a brief glimpse of what the earliest form of cinema looked like. Scorsese shows that he is a versatile director with the kind of shots and images he has used in these portions. These portions are clearly a delight for those who love cinema as an art form.

Its nice to see Ben Kingsley in a role that requires him to dig deep. He enjoys himself, and so do we. He is in his element in the portions where he is shown as the passionate film maker. Asa Butterfield’s little shoulders carry the heavy load of the movie quite well and he is ably aided by Chloe Moretz. Sacha Baron plays along quite well to the demands of the script as the one-legged inspector. Christopher Lee makes his presence felt with just the one shot where he hands a book over to Hugo. Jude Law makes a very brief appearance. And, the most important character of them all, the automaton; looks like he is alive.

Of course, Hugo being a film that is also for children has a few elements for them; like the inspector’s character. Well, it’s more of a caricature than a character, a bit over the top, but well presented and tolerable if you accept the fact that children are the target audience. But, you also get some of Scorsese’s trademark elements, like the insecurity of the adult mind and the fear of a man to look at his own past; the inability to accept that the world has moved on. These are some of the emotions that Scorsese has portrayed so well all his career.

Hugo is not a full fledged gripping entertainer; nor is it a rollicking adventure; nor is it full of cheer and laughs. Yet, it is a bit of all this and most importantly, a tribute to cinema. Scorsese’s ability to show old-world cinema in a way that will appeal too contemporary audiences are testimony to his class. Hugo will not make you clap in delight or gasp in surprise, but it will leave you feeling really good and also give you a perspective of how far cinema has come. Go for it; you will like some part of it.