304. Junglee; movie review

JUNGLEE
Cert PG
115 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, injury detail

Is he Tarzan, is he Jackie Chan or is he David Attenborough?
Apparently, Vidyut Jammwal began learning martial arts at the age of four and can certainly kick and chop energetically while showing off his rippling upper half.
Sadly, he can't act as well as he can fly through the air.
And the problem with his latest film, Junglee, is that despite its basic laudable intentions, it tries to please too many and ends up diluting its important message.
It is also so violent that it could be confused for caring more about the lives of elephants than of humans.
Jammwal plays Raj, a Mumbai vet, who returns to the elephant sanctuary of his estranged father (Thalaivasal Vijay) to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his mother's death.
Raj is strangely childlike - both in terms of his relationship with his dad and the wide-eyedness he has towards the elephants with whom he grew up.
Actually, my interpretation of the character may be down to Jammwal whose face appears to be either in a transfixed grin or bizarre furrow.
He and Junglee's makers might argue that the movie's audience is not watching for his acting prowess.
They want him to rip off his shirt and nail bad guys.
To that end, he doesn't disappoint - replete with glistening muscles, he gives all-comers a right good hiding, ignoring knife and gunshot wounds as if they are mere pinpricks.
Those on the end of his focused savagery are poachers who prey in the elephants in order to sell their tusks to the very rich.
They raid the sanctuary to tragic effect and he seeks bloody revenge.
And it all becomes terribly predictable with any environmental message submerged beneath Jammwal showing off his martial arts prowess.
And, of course, we have to accept that the villains are stupid and much weaker than him despite them hitherto being proved to be the opposite on both counts.
In short, Chuck Russell's is too brash. If its makers wanted to get across a serious message, they need not have made the violence so strong or the reaction so obvious.

Reasons to watch: The scenery and the elephants
Reasons to avoid: Its storyline is humdrum

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? In 2017, an Indian Union Environment Ministry Elephant Census pegged their population at 27, 312 across 23 states. This means the population has decreased by about 3,000, compared to the last census in 2012.

Final word. Vidyut Jammwal: "One of the most important reasons that people should watch this film is the awareness of how important it is to live with animals. It is also an educative movie for families and kids. It shows how animals are not as ferocious or harmful as they’re made out to be. In fact, they are more cautious of the humans around them." dnaindia.com

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