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The Jungle Book 2

What is it with Disney and sequels lately? And not just those relentless direct-to-video sequels that play endlessly on the Disney Channel until the ratings begin to drop? I'm talking about the ones that slip past the cracks and actually hit the big screen, like "The Jungle Book 2," which is a basic carbon copy of the original movie, sans the charm or originality of that wonderful experience. It's been a long time since I've watched the first film, but recollection tells me that it was nowhere near as boring as this new adventure, in which young Mowgli (Haley Joel Osment), now a village dweller with a new family, still yearns to be part of jungle life. It's not long before he ventures back out into the wild to make merry with pal Baloo (John Goodman), while also dodging the danger of tiger Shere Khan, who's out for revenge. ***

As innocent family fun, the film doesn't really do much damage, but I wonder how many people who loved the classic first entry will be so willing to watch their favorite characters turned into marketing ploys by hungry Disney execs. There's new songs and better animation galore, but it's all to no avail, as it lacks the elements of charm and lighthearted pizazz that the House of Mouse has all but abandoned. As the voice of Baloo, John Goodman manages to make a handful of moments watchable and mildly amusing, but the rest of the cast isn't very impressive, mostly because there isn't much required from them. The mark of a good animated feature is its ability to make good use of its voice talent, but when the characters themselves are so bland, there's not much one can do. "The Jungle Book 2" is left to hang from a vine, and should have remained thus.

A pretty good-looking transfer. The picture is framed at 1.66:1, labelled as "Family Friendly Widescreen," with colors that are nicely saturated and lacking in blemishes: no noise, no artifacts, no problem. The clarity is also very good, and the source print is in fine shape, so this one's a keeper. ***

The sound comes in DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 flavors, and both perform excellently. The surrounds work nicely to bring jungle life to vivid reality all around us, while the low end is punctuated by some periodic .1 LFE engagement. Dialogue sounds natural and the musical numbers are nicely done as well. The DTS track has the upper hand in terms of channel separation and transparency, but otherwise either option is worth it.