The Jungle Book: Return 2 the Jungle is not a complete mess and deserves to stand on its own, but on the most part it is pretty lame.

Starting with the good points, the music is quite good, with a catchy main theme and very energetic and beautifully orchestrated incidental music that doesn't overbear the atmosphere and the tense parts are scored appropriately. A better job generally could have been done with the characters, but Shere Khan comes off very well, he is an effectively sinister villain. Credit should be given too for the film showing some good values and how to get out of tight situations in a way that don't seem too questionable. A couple of the voice actors come off well too, especially David Holt, who is suitably menacing as Shere Khan, and Jimmy Hibbert as a kindly and fun Baloo.

Emma Tate voices enthusiastically, but in the more tense moments it comes over as too over-eager and cocky, which comes off annoying and in need of more subtlety. The rest of the voice cast suffer from having characters that are obnoxious and sometimes useless, like the monkeys, or blandly written, as nice as it was to see the wolves more prominent little is done with making them interesting or distinct from one another. Kaa barely appears, and Bagheera- a lenient but flatly written character- is voiced too softly and it's sometimes hard to tell whether Bagheera's meant to be male or female.

Where The Jungle Book: Return 2 the Jungle primarily falls down is in the animation, the quality would have been forgivable if this was computer animation in its early days but seeing as computer animation has come on a good deal, there was no excuse for the animation to look this cheap. Backgrounds are blocky and lack richness in detail, the colours are very flat but it's the very stiff and quite ugly character designs that come off the worst. The story has a very episodic feel with the feeling of five or six TV episodes strung together, it's also devoid of charm, humour feels simplistically juvenile and the more tense parts are hampered by lack of suspense and a large degree of predictability. Dialogue is flat, first-draft-like and constantly sounds like it's trying too hard to appeal to kids, that adults will find little of value, and while the film is short the flagging energy and lack of detail to characterisation and story makes the film feel longer than it is.

Overall, has its moments but is pretty lame on the most part. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Animation is a form of visual storytelling that involves creating visual art and motion through the use of various techniques and technologies. In animation, images are manipulated to create the illusion of movement, bringing characters, objects, and environments to life. Animation can encompass a wide range of styles, themes, and intended audiences, making it a diverse and versatile form of storytelling.

Daveigh Chase, Rumi Hiiragi, and Mari Natsuki in Spirited Away (2001)

The family genre features stories specifically created to be suitable for a wide range of age groups within a family. Family-oriented content is designed to be enjoyed by both children and adults, often providing entertainment that is wholesome, relatable, and appropriate for all members of a family to watch or experience together.

Drew Barrymore and Pat Welsh in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

When Baloo gets distracted by a bee hive and gets left behind, the friends find their way home after an exciting jungle adventure in this action packed feature length film.

The Jungle Book: Return 2 the Jungle (2013)

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Le livre de la jungle 2: retour dans la jungle

John Goodman, Haley Joel Osment, Mae Whitman, and Connor Funk in The Jungle Book 2 (2003)

Sterling Holloway, George Sanders, Sebastian Cabot, Verna Felton, Phil Harris, Clint Howard, J. Pat O'Malley, Louis Prima, and Bruce Reitherman in The Jungle Book (1967)

Bill Murray, Christopher Walken, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong'o, and Neel Sethi in The Jungle Book (2016)

The Jungle Book: Return 2 the Jungle

Videos1

Photos11

Top Cast8

User reviews1

More like this

Related interests

Storyline

Did you know

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed