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MOVIE REVIEW: The Jungle Bunch

Garth Cremona (RIP)

In the Jungle there are heroes and those heroes are called The Jungle Bunch.  Maurice looks like a penguin, but when his egg washed up on the shore of the Jungle, he was rescued by a retiring hero Tiger called Natasha.  She loved him for years and Maurice followed in the family business to create the Bunch.  The old nemesis of Natasha and her team, an Evil Koala, has returned from exile and plans to destroy the Jungle.  It’s going to take two generations of heroes to defeat this villain.

Although this film is getting the middle mark of the bunch I don’t want you to think that I’m going to be hammering home that it’s a bad film.  It’s far from what I would call a bad animation.  For a certain part of the family it is going to be a great time in the cinema.  But anyone over 8 years old may get a little bored.  Some of the biggest problems with the film is that this is more or less a rip off of Kung-Fu Panda.  You cannot, and I mean cannot, get away from that fact, just by using another black and white animal changes very little.   All the themes that KFP goes through are featured here.

What sets The Jungle Bunch apart from most of the lesser animations of the year is that it takes from these movies, and adds bits from others.  The characters are similar and yet different, but then I doubt anyone under 8 years old is going to sit there with their pipes in their hands and say “Fowl Play!”“  What they are going to experience during this is the excitement which is plenty, and the colourful and sometimes funny characters that inhabit the Jungle.  I did laugh out loud myself during the screening, but that’s because at times I have the mentality of an eight year old child, I kept thinking about my seven-year old nephew and although he’s watched all the Captain America films he’d still enjoy this film.

The animation itself is good, and at times you can see a real potential in the animators that would rival Disney for detail, but there were one or two moments when I caught what looked like unfinished pieces.  Also the voices are off to the lip readings but I’m sure that is because it was translated into English.

As I said this is for younger members of the family, and if they liked KFP then there is that great chance that this will keep them entertained for long enough that you can finish that bottle of Gin, or is that just my family?  The film makers seem to blend their knowledge of action movies, and Wallace and Gromit, into a half way decent film that although is packed full of furry flaws is also thick with Jungle fun.  There are far more expensive films made that haven’t got the heart that The Jungle Bunch has.  Very little else I can say, if you’ve got younglings in the family that need entertaining then there are worse films that you can take them to see.  I would add this DVD to my Nephew’s Christmas stocking and know that he would enjoy it.  But I’m cheap and would only do that if given a copy… I love him, but not enough to spend cash!

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Director: David Alaux
Writers: David Alaux, Eric Tosti, Jean-François Tost
Stars: Paul Borne, Philippe Bozo, Pascal Casanova & more… See full cast & crew

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Garth Cremona (RIP)
Comic book creator and movie reviewer. You can find out more at www.dublinwriter.com
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