Tonight we went to see The Jungle Book. Not the old Disney cartoon from the 1980’s, that was certainly one of my favourites. But instead the new Disney CGI masterpiece.
My husband and I don’t get to go on enough dates just the two of us. Logistically, it is just hard sometimes. So we try to go out with the family as much as possible and have fun dates. Date night with just the 5 of us!
We had to compromise on the movie choice tonight, I was not sitting through 2 hours of Kung Fu Panda 3, so we ended up at The Jungle Book.
I think our timing may have been a bit wrong from the outset. I mean, we just finished a yummy roast dinner, I still haven’t cleaned up fully….. We rushed everyone to get out the door so that the kids probably didn’t really eat enough for tea. It was a 6.54pm on a Sunday night. Then all we had was a bag full of stashed chocolates in the theatre with us and a bottle of water. Not great when you have a 2 year old, a 4 year old and a 6 year old clambering over each other to sit the closest to Mum, and you can’t even give them a packet of crisps to shut them up! We had a glass of wine or 2 
before the movie too which meant I had to go and pee halfway through which I absolutely hate doing. And instead of quickly and quietly ducking out to the toilet incognito, I had at least 2 kids trailing after me and then taking ages in the not-so-clean theatre toilets while I just knew the good part of the movie was happening back in cinema number 4. It all made me wish I had stashed a bottle of wine in my handbag as well!
Managing small children is never an easy feat at the best of times. So, when the circumstances are tweaked a little away from your favour, you know you are in for some fun.
The 6 year old is mature enough to get it. He enjoyed the movie thoroughly. His little butt was glued to the seat, his eyes never left the screen and I don’t think he said a word except “wow” the entire 100minutes. He is the kind of kid I would like to take on all my movie dates. My 4 year old son on the other had decided he was starving hungry half way through the movie and that really distracted him from enjoying it. It really distracted me too – “I’m hungry Mum!” and all the chocolate in the world would not fill him up! He didn’t like the ending and was not impressed when the main character, the baddie met a violent end.
Shere Khan was an awesomely bad baddie.
He was really scary, especially if you are under 5. My 2 year old daughter spent half the movie cowering with fear in my lap, and the other half climbing over the seats and kicking her brother. I liked it best when she was cowering! She fell asleep for about the last half an hour which was quite a relief actually. She did the same thing when we went to see the new Star Wars flick a few months ago. Again, the 6 year old loved it, the 4 year old thought it went for too long, and the 2 year old fell asleep.
My favourite character was Bargheera the panther.
But he is the best guy in the original story too. I just love the sleekness of panthers. Baloo was cool too, Bill Murray is one of my all time favourite actors so he really managed to bring Baloo to life with some much needed comic relief. Christopher Walken as King Louie was another stand out.
The special effects were amazing!
I have seen this footage on Facebook of the filming before and after the CGI special effects were added. It was basically just Mowgli in a green room with some puppets. It kind of ruined it for me actually.
You all know the story already, so there were no surprises there. It was brought to life incredibly well with great acting and special effects. We loved going out to the movies. But the movie didn’t really blow us away. Maybe we were distracted by the kids, but for all the build up, it wasn’t as good as I expected it to be, and I was left feeling a little deflated. The preview was amazing, it even made my eyes water but unfortunately the movie couldn’t maintain that emotion for me throughout.
Click here to watch the trailer
Maybe we should have gone to Kung Fu Panda 3 instead.
Date nights are so, so important for maintaining a great marriage.
Tonight, I think we regret not getting a babysitter and having our own fun instead. Couple fun is not watching a kids movie after their bedtime while refereeing their squabbles and complaints. We have got to be selfish sometimes and go on a date just for the 2 of us. Because that’s where all this began. Imagine on your first date with your partner if you could fast forward 14 or so years and see where you end up. I wouldn’t change my family for the world so I had better not neglect where it came from. Our family has grown up out of our love for each other. Next time, we will go for dinner in a fancy, kid free restaurant. Stay tuned!
Have you seen The Jungle Book? What did you think? Please comment below.
Love,
