The Jungle Book (Jon Favreau, 2016)
Walken plays: King Louie - Gigantopithecus; aspiring florist; jungle VIP
"No, YOU take your hands off ME, you damn dirty human!"
Synopsis: Favreau's live action remount of the Kipling/Disney class is one of the few remakes that not only matches, but actually improves on its predecessor. It's visually flawless, emotionally robust, and full of enough plucky humour to make the tale of Mowgli the man-cub (Neel Sethi)'s quest for community and self-identity whilst being hunted by vengeful tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) truly an adventure for the ages.
Just when Mowgli's spirits are at their most downtrodden, as dual dads Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) and Baloo (Bill Murray) urge him to flee the jungle to rejoin the nearby village of men for the safety of him and the rest of the creatures of the jungle, along lumbers Walken's King Louie. Godfather of the jungle, he's here to make Mowgli an offer he can't refuse: teach him the secret of 'man's red flower,' and Louie will grant Mowgli both the protection and community he so desperately craves. Giant ape or not, this is the quintessential Walken part, and Favreau works Walken's immense charisma, consummate weirdness, sly charm, and propensity to be genuinely terrifying for all they're worth. I mean, come on: Louie is literally summoned out of the shadows by a cowbell. A COWBELL. This is the sign of a classy, cheeky director treating the mystique and indomitable fan appeal of his star with the respect they deserve.
He wasn't being facetious when he said he had a fever. Thank goodness there's a cowbell handy.
Wacky Walken dialogue: Granting Louie a consummately Walken intro monologue about papaya fruit is a nice touch, but the crown jewel on this King is his rhyming 'ridiculous' with 'gigantopithecus'. Sublime.
"So he says, 'No ourangutans in India.' So I ate him. Because I ain't no pansy-ass ourangutan."
Just when Mowgli's spirits are at their most downtrodden, as dual dads Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) and Baloo (Bill Murray) urge him to flee the jungle to rejoin the nearby village of men for the safety of him and the rest of the creatures of the jungle, along lumbers Walken's King Louie. Godfather of the jungle, he's here to make Mowgli an offer he can't refuse: teach him the secret of 'man's red flower,' and Louie will grant Mowgli both the protection and community he so desperately craves. Giant ape or not, this is the quintessential Walken part, and Favreau works Walken's immense charisma, consummate weirdness, sly charm, and propensity to be genuinely terrifying for all they're worth. I mean, come on: Louie is literally summoned out of the shadows by a cowbell. A COWBELL. This is the sign of a classy, cheeky director treating the mystique and indomitable fan appeal of his star with the respect they deserve.
He wasn't being facetious when he said he had a fever. Thank goodness there's a cowbell handy.
Wacky Walken dialogue: Granting Louie a consummately Walken intro monologue about papaya fruit is a nice touch, but the crown jewel on this King is his rhyming 'ridiculous' with 'gigantopithecus'. Sublime.
"So he says, 'No ourangutans in India.' So I ate him. Because I ain't no pansy-ass ourangutan."
DOES HE DANCE: Baby, he's the King of the Swingers, the Jungle VIP! But, throughout the course of the film, we only really get a little shuffle from side to side as he throws some trinkets and papaya fruit into the air - one of the film's few ever-so-slight "aww..."s of disappointment. THEN, Favreau uncorks some of the most game-changing credits in cinematic history, as Walken's Louie, presumed dead, explodes out of a pile of rubble, and lets rip with a full-blown jazzy cover of Louie's classic "I Wanna Be Like You," complete with swinging and sashaying around his monkey temple. He sings, baby! He dances, baby! And the viewer's heart - already melted by Favreau's stunning film - finally explodes entirely.
Overall Walken-o-meter: 10/10 cowbells. Christopher Walken playing an outrageously large, singing, dancing, pyromaniac mafioso ape is a spectacle that the entire course of cinema has been leading up to. He's ostentatiously large and in charge, and it's one of the most stupendous oddities of a career chock full of them. The Jungle Book is easily the biggest mainstream film he's ever been a part of, and it's safe to say that - in more than one way - he's the biggest part of it. Oobie-doo.
He reached the top. So he had to stop. T'ain't nothing bothering me.
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