The Jungle Book Opens Friday! @TheJungleBook @DisneyStudios #JungleBook

Yes! I picked the poster with the picture I most identified with in The Jungle Book!

My son and I previewed The Jungle Book earlier this week. I have to disclose that we saw it in a Dolby theater with surround sound, our first one! That added to the dramatic feeling throughout the movie.

My son had been telling everyone that he was very excited to see this movie as it reminded him of his childhood, he didn’t care that he felt that he had aged out of this sort of picture. Well, this is not your Jungle Book from growing up. This is a more adult, darker Jungle Book, here a man cub is trying to survive in the wilds of the jungle. Every animal is helping Mowgli except one, the most fearsome predator there is Shere Khan, the tiger, who is instead trying to kill him. Some parts of this movie are dark and threatening, not at all reminiscent of the animated version I saw growing up!

We felt like we were right there with Mowgli and his jungle pals. We were hypnotized along with Mowgli when Scarlett Johansson was soothingly telling Mowgli about his past! We could almost feel the bee stings when he was helping Baloo collect honey for his coming hibernation! The CGI was terrific in this movie, the animals looked as real as if we were with them in the jungle! Thankfully Mowgli had a protector, Bagheera the black panther, to guide him on his path, and not eat him as he would in the jungles of our world!

Directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”), based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories and inspired by Disney’s classic animated film, “The Jungle Book” is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray). Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire. The all-star cast also includes Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of the fiercely protective mother wolf Raksha, and Giancarlo Esposito as the voice of wolf pack’s alpha male Akela. “The Jungle Book” seamlessly blends live-action with photorealistic CGI animals and environments, using up-to-the-minute technology and storytelling techniques to immerse audiences in an enchanting and lush world. The wild adventure swings into theaters in 3D on April 15, 2016.

The above named actors and actresses did a fantastic job voicing the animal alter egos. They were all perfectly suited. Bill Murray as Baloo was fantastic, especially when singing the Bear Necessities, and Christopher Walken was also excellent as King Louie.

The most important part of the movie was the respect it teaches us about the animals of the jungle. When the panther taught Mowgli that he must bow down in respect to the elephants, I was almost brought to tears as they are my favorite animal and I worry about what man is doing to them in the wild.

I was also lucky enough to work at a twitter party with the Director, Jon Favreau, on behalf of Best Buy, where I learned that the endangered Pangolin was present in the movie as Jon wanted to highlight their plight in the wild. Also, Jon said he saw the movie many times as a child and that was why he was so happy to be part of this project! He shared that it took a log time to find the perfect Mowgli, and they finally found my NYC neighbor, Neel Sethi!

My son and I agree, this is a must see movie, here is a teaser for you:

Disclosure: We were provided tickets to see this movie to facilitate our review. All opinions are always 100% honest and our own.