The Jungle Book

_**Mowgli Jones of the Jungle**_ From 1887 to the turn of the century a boy is raised by wolves in the jungles of India where Shere Khan the tiger dwells and threatens. With assistance from Baloo the bear and Bagheera the black panther, Mowgli (Jason Scott Lee) learns the "Law of the Jungle” before going back to civilization and learning the strange ways and corruptions of humanity, as well as love. Sam Neill, Lena Headey, Cary Elwes and John Cleese are on hand. "The Jungle Book" (1994) mixes the sweet innocence of Rudyard Kipling's fables with “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan” (1984) and Indiana Jones. Don’t expect talking animals as this is a relatively realistic adventure with some cute animal reactions, but not overdone. While I prefer “Greystoke” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” it’s at least on par with “Temple of Doom” and “The Last Crusade.” It needed more human interest to keep the attention of adults, but has enough I reckon. Some people have complained that Jason Scott Lee was miscast, but it’s assumed Mowgli’s mother (whom we never see and died when he was born) was of Asian descent. Keep in mind that, geographically, Southeast Asia is right around the corner from the Indian subcontinent, not to mention Nepal/China to the north, and so mixed marriages weren’t exactly unheard of. Meanwhile Lee himself is a mix of Polynesian & Chinese blood. For the movie, making Mowgli part-Asian made him an outsider to both the British and the Indians, which works for me. The beautiful Lena Headey does well in her role while Elwes is effective as the odious Brit snob. Lee, of course, kicks total axx while the live-action animals and spectacular locations are worth the price of admission. The film runs 1 hour, 51 minutes, and was shot in Jodhpur in northwestern India (scenes featuring monkeys and elephants), as well as Bombay (Mowgli's urban interaction scenes), Tennessee (Fall Creek Falls & Ozone Falls) and South Carolina (Fripp Island & nearby Beaufort). GRADE: B/B-