Kid Tested – Uncle Approved: “Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie” (2009)

(Editor’s Note: This review was written months ago and was only recently published in the Holyoke Enterprise May 19, 2016)

Have you noticed Selena Gomez is everywhere lately? She recently was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, she had a quick cameo in the movie The Big Short, and she keeps popping up on my Pandora stations. Being a 30 year old male who doesn’t watch the Disney channel, I found myself asking, “Who is Selena Gomez again?” Turns out, she’s not Vanessa Hudgens either. Go figure. While looking through Netflix for something to review, I came upon this week’s movie in the “Girl Power” section and figured I’d give it a shot. I’ve never seen any of the television show of the same name (which I also confused with the other Disney show with the twins from Big Daddy. Basically, I’m clueless, it seems), but knowing Disney and their formula for most shows, I figured I could pick up the backstory as I went.

Kid Tested – Uncle Approved: “The Jungle Book” (2016)

Another Disney reboot? Here’s me with my arms crossed, ready for the worst. “The Jungle Book” is one of my favorite classic Disney movies. It’s “a boy movie” as my wife calls them, like “Robin Hood” or “Sword in the Stone” and one that I could watch anytime, any place. If it were on TV, with 10 minutes left, on mute, I’d still watch it. So obviously when I heard they were making yet another live-action version, I didn’t expect much. Then they started announcing the cast: Bill Murray, Bill Kingsley, Christopher Walken, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johanson, Lupita Nyong’o, and of course, Jon Favreau directing. Then the early reviews came in and everyone was raving about it. Well, guess what?

They were right.