The Jungle Book (PG)

Sometimes, you hear about a planned remake of a much-loved classic and you just die a little inside - surely someone, somewhere has an original idea worth making?

I mean, what's to be gained?

You want to introduce a new audience to The Jungle Book? Clean up the old print and re-release it to mark an anniversary or something.

Did we really need a 'live action' version that wasn't all that 'live' given it's 99 per cent CGI?

Well, no. Not really.

Especially when some of us had to undergo a whole summer having a certain tiger's name yelled at them the last time it was sent round the world's big screens.

But have it we do.

And, to be fair, it's doing good business at the box office and all the feedback has been largely positive.

Which leaves us wondering what we've missed...

For the two of you who have no idea what The Jungle Book is about, a quick recap - boy is found in jungle, given to the wolves by the panther and raised as their own 'til the tiger rocks up and wants to kill him at which point he gets sent packing back to the human village only to get caught by a snake, befriended by a bear and kidnapped by apes.

Got that?

Marvellous.

Based on Rudyard Kipling's classic tale, the original Disney cartoon is rightly regarded as one of their best - with perfect voice casting and great songs to match the feel-good tale.

This time around, we still have the songs and most of the feel-good factor.

So far, so good.

The star of the show is the CGI. All of the animals feel real, the jungle scenes are rich and lush and there's just the right level of cutesy to keep the really young audience members on board.

The voices, though, are a problem.

While Bill Murray rocks as Baloo and Scarlett Johansson makes your skin crawl as Kaa, Idris Elba jars as Shere Khan (why is my tiger from London?) and Christopher Walken is borderline laughable as King Louie.

Sometimes the big name is not the right guy for the role, you know?

The stand-out performer here is Sir Ben Kingsley, who infuses Bagheera with just the right level of warmth and gravitas.

He's so good, in fact, we only found out it was him during the closing credits. Never guessed. Was fairly sure it was Gambon...

But it's a fair measure of just how well engaged we were with this film that a lot of time was spent guessing the voices.

Which is a shame.

Because director John Favreau has done a good job bringing this jungle to life, and in Neel Sethi has found a child actor who can more than hold his own in a world of pixels.

And it really can't be stressed enough just how good the CGI is. It knocks Avatar in to a well-drawn cocked hat.

But there are things here that really aren't needed.

The songs don't sit so well in a "real world" environment, for example - especially when some lovely touches with the score work much better.

And who decided invoking a Raiders Of The Lost Ark/Planet Of The Apes mash-up was a good idea?

The fact such things are still niggling is a shame, because this film does manage to maintain the heart of the original - if not the warmth.

Having said all that, the young children sat in the row in front seemed suitably captivated and entranced - and, at the end of the day that's surely the point.

Yes, a cynical old sod who remembers the original and proudly owns the cassette single of The Jungle Book Groove might have niggles and nits to pick.

But if a new generation can fall in love with a bear and a jungle, then someone somewhere has more than done their job.