The first bunch of reviews for The Jungle Book are out now.

The Disney movie directed by Jon Favreau, has gotten mostly a thumbs up from the critics, from lauding the film's use of technological wiazardry to Favreau's welcome interpretation of the story.

Here's a round up of some of the reviews:

"Favreau already has one four-star family pic to his credit with "Elf," but the most important touchstone from his filmography here is probably "Iron Man," in which the director hit all the marks of an effects-heavy tentpole while still allowing the film to breathe where it needed to. His lightness of touch proves an enormous asset, as he builds this jungle into the type of dangerous, sometimes pitiless setting that an average 10-year-old would nonetheless never want to leave. It can't rival the woolly looseness of Disney's 1967 animated classic, of course, but it succeeds on its own so well that such comparisons are barely necessary." -- Variety

"This film's existence implicitly poses a question: why, almost 50 years on from the release of Wolfgang Reitherman's unimpeachable animated version, would Disney want to go back to The Jungle Book? Shere Khan, along with the rest of its photorealistic supporting cast, is the answer. All previous live-action adaptations of Rudyard Kipling's stories (and there have been a few) have felt like studio-bound fantasies, all circus animals, rubber ferns, and vets with tranquilliser darts just out of shot. But this one - ironically, the most synthetic of the lot - has the warm-blooded, weather-beaten ring of truth.

If you've seen Kenneth Branagh's 2015 adaptation of Cinderella, you'll already have a good sense of its tone. Favreau's film is a sincere and full-hearted adaptation that returns to Kipling for fresh inspiration, but also knows which elements of the animation are basically now gospel, and comes up with a respectful reconciliation of the two." -- Telegraph

"As an event film that thrives on creating a sense of wonder rather than rich story, "The Jungle Book" is more than an incremental step forward in the digital effects arms race, with spectacular end-game images establishing a new high bar for digital reproduction of real-world animals and environments. The strikingly realistic scenery is dappled with color, light and shadow to create dramatic stages for masterful character animations- if only the story played out on this impeccably-realized fantasy had the same persuasive command." -- IndieWire

Meanwhile, The Guardian has a word of caution about possibly racist tones in the film.

The film will release on April 15, 2016.

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