Review #32 | The Jungle Book 2

The Jungle Book 2 continues to inspire and brings back the beloved character from the first movie to life again.

The Jungle Book 2, 2003

Mowgli the "man-cub" returns to the wilderness in this sequel to the Walt Disney Pictures animated favorite The Jungle Book. After leaving life in the jungle behind, Mowgli (voice of Haley Joel Osment) has been adopted, and now lives in the nearby village with his new parents and his younger brother, while becoming close friends with Shanti (voice of Mae Whitman), the girl who first lured him out of the wilds. However, adjusting to live among other humans hasn't been easy, and after Mowgli pays a visit to an old friend, happy-go-lucky bear Baloo (John Goodman), the boy considers staying for a while. Before long, both Shanti and Mowgli's new family notice he's missing, and Shanti goes into the jungle to look for him, despite her fear of wild animals. However, Mowgli and Baloo are soon reminded that life in the wilderness isn't always carefree when they learn Shere Khan (voice of Tony Jay) is looking for Mowgli, eager to settle an old score. The Jungle Book 2 also features voice work from Phil Collins and John Rhys-Davies; rock group Smash Mouth contribute a new version of "I Wanna Be Like You" to the soundtrack.

Do you hear the jungle rhythm? The filmmakers wanted to go back to the jungle just like Mowgli did. The Jungle Book 2 explores the jungle that the man-cub longed for in a fun exciting way. This story has comedy and great music but it lacks the full attention from the audience due to its mundane story.

The technology has changed throughout the years and it became easier and faster to do these things but is it just me feeling that the previous movie had better animation? I do like the animation used in this movie except for Papa bear that has a very bright blue color of fur and looks quite different from the first movie. Other than that the animation looks colorful and gorgeous. The characters look appealing as always (that’s what Disney does best).

While kids will certainly enjoy this movie, I doubt elderly people will have any patience to this ‘kids’ stuff. As for me, I have enjoyed-ish the movie and I loved the song ‘Jungle Rhythm’; it was so good.

Inside Outside Review: 68%