“The Bare Necessities, da, da, da, oh, the Bare Necessities!”

As someone who had not, unfortunately, seen the original Disney classic, this was the extent of what I anticipated when I walked into theaters to see the new live-action version of The Jungle Book. Singsongs, childish narratives, and happy-go-lucky characters. Some rolls of the eyes from my brothers, who are middle school age, and probably a few strangle looks in my direction as the only teenager watching a kid’s movie.

I’ll take the strange looks. It was worth it.

Disney movies never fail to surprise, and The Jungle Book was no exception. The unusually vibrant scenes, the intense narrative, and the precocious Mogli made the story come to life. Instead of the expected, mindless chatter talking animal movies rely on, the animals each sounded and acted human enough to believe their storylines. The animals acted more like their symbolic representations than as cartoon characters, which made every scene all the more believable.

The storyline itself was also intriguing – boy raised by wolves, tiger hates boy, boy runs into king, boy escapes tiger, and boy returns home. Unexpected drama and suspense, like the animal fight scenes and the cat-and-mouse chase between Mogli and the antagonist, added another degree of interest for an already well-known story. Not only that, but moviegoers see things from an animal perspective – like the infamous red flower (fire) that separates animal from man.

Even though the marketed audience is a little young, I would still highly recommend seeing this movie. Instead of it being cheesy or predictable, it was intriguing and moving, especially as a live-action interpretation. I would see it now, full screen, so as to fully appreciate the spectacular details put into the jungle background and have a relaxing study break before finals.