My Movie Review on The Jungle Book 2

Aloha, my friends.

This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for my 172nd film analysis, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "The Jungle Book 2".

Here's the rundown of this tale:

A little while after the events of the first film, Mowgli has settled in to life at the Man Village. He now lives under the care of a human family consisting of a father, mother, and a boy named Ranjan. Has has also been getting more acquainted with Shanti, the girl he followed into the village.

But despite of being surrounded by fellow humans, Mowgli misses living in the jungle and being with his best friend, Baloo the bear. However, when Baloo manages to sneak into the village one night, he and Mowgli immediately decide to head back into the jungle together, unwittingly followed by Shanti and Ranjan.

In the midst of this, Shere Khan the tiger is once again hunting for Mowgli, this time out of revenge for the man-cub humiliating him the last time they met.

In all honesty, this movie was something that I had seen at times during my childhood. My feelings towards it had often been rather on and off, meaning that there were times I had a pleasant experience with it and times where I wasn't exactly amused by it. I decided to make a review of this sequel a pretty long while after seeing the first film, because the last time I saw it not long after its predecessor, my feelings towards it were kinda negative.

Since this movie hardly has what many would call the most well-received reputation, I'd like to start off by pointing out the detractors it had.

One of my biggest issues with the movie was the casting of John Goodman as Baloo. I have nothing against Goodman personally, he's a terrific actor. I've admired his vocal work for Disney for as long as I can remember. But, as a successor to the original voice of Baloo in the first film, Phil Harris, I felt that Goodman wasn't the right guy for the part. I felt that they should've cast someone who could deeply mimic Harris's voice. I did enjoy the fact that Goodman was able to get into the role and at least try his best, but in the long run...I found myself left with a sense of longing for Harris's voice for Baloo.

Along with that, the animation was a 50/50 for me. I mean, there were several elements that I was impressed by, such as how faithful the visualization of the settings were to the original, how neat the water was, and the animation of some of the characters. Aside from that, though, I couldn't help but note that there was also this sense of lack in dedication. Several elements just seemed either a little cheaply done or unfinished, like the animators weren't being the most attentive to their work or giving their all.

Despite these negatives I pointed out, I didn't think this movie was a complete waste of time. There were many things about it that gave it a sense of purpose.

For instance, Tony Jay was literally the perfect choice for the part of Shere Khan in this movie, and not just because of how remarkably close his voice was to George Sanders's voice either. He brought an astounding sense of dimensionalism to the character that instantly captured Khan's emotions, as well as reflect his wounded pride and his thirst for vengeance. Khan's very presence throughout the movie showed how much of a greater threat he was to Mowgli than in the last film.

The vocal impressions by Bob Jones, Jim Cummings, Jeff Bennett, Jess Harnell, and Brian Cummings as Bagheera, Kaa, Colonel Hathi, M.C. Monkey, Buzzie, Dizzy, Ziggy, and Flaps were deeply spot-on, because they were able to fill-in for their late predecessors while making the characters their own at the same time. Plus, Haley Joel Osment and Mae Whitman did an excellent job portraying Mowgli and Shanti, and their characters had marvelous development. The film's new characters, Ranjan, his father, and Lucky the vulture were interesting as well, and the performances of Connor Funk, John Rhys-Davies, and Phil Collins were top-notch.

The direction by Steve Irenbirth, and the story by Karl Geurs, were surprisingly much more nimble than I remembered. At times, I've noted slight traces of nostalgia and references towards the first film, but the nice thing about them was that they were all executed in a good way. The movie wasn't as similar to its predecessor as I remembered, that's for sure.

The thing that caught my attention the most about this movie was that it wasn't without creative inspiration and thought. Shere Khan is one out of many Disney antagonists that wasn't killed off near the end of a film, so the question of whether or not he'd seek revenge on Mowgli was a perfect element to build the story on. Mowgli and Baloo's friendship is what many would call one of the most iconic in animation history, so whether they'd be okay with being apart for long was another great question to answer. Other things that I enjoyed was the filmmakers's exploration of Mowgli's conflicts over where he truly belongs, as well as how they upgraded Shanti from a mere minor in the first film to someone with more personality and depth. The film wasn't without heart either; and while not every joke in the movie was funny, there were many gags that I found to be really enjoyable.

Finally, the music by Joel McNeely was delightful. I particularly enjoyed how emotionally invested McNeely got his score to be with the story and characters, and his music was so powerful that it could pull a person's heartstrings. In addition, while "Jungle Rhythm" and "W-I-L-D" may not be songs that hold the kind of star quality that made the songs of the original film special, they were still fun in their own way.

In conclusion, "The Jungle Book 2" isn't what I'd call a flawless sequel or the best of the now defunct Disneytoon Studios. But, it's not a worthless hunk of junk either, because it has qualities that make the film both meaningful and enjoyable. For me, this film's pretty much a guilty pleasure of mine.

So, I rate "The Jungle Book 2" 4 out of 5 stars.