UPDATE HASN'T EVOLVED.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic HOW MANY times can ``The Jungle Book 2'' use the song ``Bare Necessities'' and still call itself ``all-new''? For those keeping score, the answer is three. And that's over the course of about an hour. Just think what the animators could have done with a 90-minute running time. ``Jungle Book 2'' is ``all-new'' in the sense that it has been 36 years since Disney released its first animated version of Rudyard Kipling's classic, so they've had to hire different actors to voice the same characters. But this new version epitomizes creative laziness, which isn't that surprising given its makers - director Steven Trenbirth and writer Karl Geurs - are the same people responsible for inferior, direct-to-video rehashes of Disney movies like ``The Lion King II'' and ``Lady and the Tramp II.'' ``Jungle Book 2'' is basically ``Jungle Book'' minus the originality, topicality and charm. Whereas the 1967 version was hip enough to spoof the Beatles and hire Louis Prima to do his jump, jive and wail routine as the King of the Apes, this latest installment is content to run the original characters through familiar paces, adding only a tepid preteen pre·teen adj. 1. Relating to or designed for children especially between the ages of 10 and 12. 2. Being a child especially between the ages of 10 and 12; preadolescent. n. A preteen boy or girl. romance. Here's hoping the original writers sue for royalties. The ``all-new'' ``Jungle Book'' picks up where the first one left off. Mowgli (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) now lives in the village, but the man-cub is torn between the delights of civilization (he's got a serious crush on a girl named Shanti Shanti (from Sanskrit शािन्त śāntiḥ) can mean:
The jungle's critters miss Mowgli, too, but for differing reasons. Baloo the bear (John Goodman Not to be confused with Johnny Goodman (TV producer), Johnny Goodman, or John C. Goodman. John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is a Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning American actor, perhaps best known for his roles on the television series Roseanne , doing his darndest to conjure up or make visible, as a spirit, by magic arts; hence, to invent; as, to conjure up a story; to conjure up alarms s>. See also: Conjure some fun) misses his old song-and-dance partner, while the tiger Shere Kahn (Tony Jay) wants revenge for the humiliating hu·mil·i·ate tr.v. hu·mil·i·at·ed, hu·mil·i·at·ing, hu·mil·i·ates To lower the pride, dignity, or self-respect of. See Synonyms at degrade. thrashing Mowgli gave him. Both will have the opportunity to fulfill their longings, if only because of the filmmakers' steadfast commitment to repetition. Little ones young children. See also: Little reared on ``The Jungle Book'' won't complain about all the redundancy; parents who have to buy the tickets (and the popcorn and the sodas) might think otherwise. The thing is, it wouldn't have been hard to update the movie. Replace the Beatles vultures with the boys from 'N Sync (or voices who sound like them), make the King of the Apes (who isn't even seen here) into a princess and cast Avril Lavigne Avril Lavigne Whibley,[1] better known by her birth name of Avril Lavigne (IPA: /æv.ɹʌl lə.vin/), (born September 27 1984) is a Canadian rock/punk-pop singer, musician and actress. and you've got a start. But try something. Don't get by on just the bare necessities Bare Necessities may refer to:
THE JUNGLE BOOK 2 - Two stars (G) Starring: Voices of John Goodman, Haley Joel Osment. Director: Steven Trenbirth. Running time: 1 hr. 12 min. Playing: Wide release. In a nutshell: Seen ``The Jungle Book''? Then you've seen ``The Jungle Book 2.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Mowgli's unbridled manners are a surprise to village girl Shanti in ``The Jungle Book 2.'' |
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