by Nathaniel R
grrrr. oink. hsss. squeak. 'oh bother'. oohoohahah. and other animal noises.
The multiplex has a serious animal infestations coming up with Christopher Robin and yet another adaptation of The Jungle Book called Mowgli coming up in the next handful of months. Have you caught their trailers?
Let's break them down with our Yes No Maybe So™ practice after the jump...
MOWGLI due in theaters October 18th
YES
- The visual FX could be stunning once completed.
- Rohan Chand is giving more legit feral child raised by wolves in this brief glimpse than Neel Sethi did in the entirety of the Disney version two years back.
- Shere Khan's entrance with that wounded paw is creepy. Might still be a good villain.
NO
- They seem to be stressing that this version is "dark" ....as if that's a draw. Listen. The world is dark enough. Rudyard Kipling didn't write The Jungle Book for jaded adults. This reminds me of that joke in Deadpool 2. One of its only good jokes in which Deadpool makes fun of someone about being really dark and implies that that she be in the DC Universe instead.
- The biggest problem with remakes as a rule is finding their raison d'etre. Few have an actual reason to exist. Nothing in this trailer screams "Jungle Book NEEDED to have this version made."
MAYBE SO
- Could be fun for comparison sake. Like Cate Blanchett versus Scarlett Johansson as Kaa. Benedict Cumberbatch versus Idris Elba as Shere Kahn and so on.
- You know I live for musicals but they felt awkwardly grafted on to the Disney remake in 2016 as if it was only a musical out of duty to it corporate agenda / legacy but with no passion about being one. At least this one sidesteps that problem. As a result it might feel like a whole vision instead of a Frankenstein retread between the new and the old?
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN due in theaters August 3rd
YES
- Disney may well have run out of ideas given their constant self-cannibilization of their back catalogue but I'm surprised to report that this trailer is very very charming. Maybe you've already fallen in love with it?
- The design of the characters, looking like old much-used (i.e. loved) stuffed animals is really something --not creepy but comforting and amusing!
- Great mimicry voice work from actors taking on those iconic characters.
- Ewan McGregor, the male movie star most adept at filling our hearts with instant pure feeling, is absolutely ace casting for this.
- Hayley Atwell is perpetually underused -- and probably will be here, too -- but we're always happy to see her.
NO
- But what if it is actually bad and "ruins our childhoods" as people complain about virtually every nostalgia based movie property when it arrives.
- Not exactly breaking new ground here. Oh a middle aged man who works too much and needs to reconnect with his family who miss him? We've only seen that 2,000 times... not 2001 times.
- What if it's actually as bad as Hook (1991), with which it could claim kinship?
MAYBE SO
- Marc Forster is directing and he's hit or miss. Hopefully it's not as dull as Finding Neverland!
- Could well devolve into weightless disposable "redemption" arc to reunite its sad family but on the other hand it might legitimately take that ole hoary but always relevant arc (parents do still become estranged from their children due to overworking after all) and make magic with it like a modern Mary Poppins.
I'm stretching for the Nos and Maybe Sos with this one because I'm there on August 3rd since my heart was swelling during this trailer... especially when Piglet clapped. My heart!. May this movie live up to its potential.
HOW ABOUT YOU? Where do you fall on these two movies judging by their trailers?