Scar (The Lion King) "handle[s] all of the dramatic heavy lifting." Even film critics who generally disliked the film tended to enjoy Scar's characterization and Irons's performance. Terrence Rafferty of "The New Yorker" wrote, "Among the celebrity voices on the soundtrack, two performances stand out," namely, "Jeremy Irons, as the villainous lion Scar" who "does an elegant, funny George Sanders impersonation." (Sanders himself had voiced Shere Khan for Disney in their 1967 version of "The Jungle Book"). Stephen Hunter of "The Baltimore Sun "described Irons's voice as "plummy-rich with rancid irony." Television Without Pitys Ethan Alter admitted to enjoying Scar, praising the character as
The Jungle Book (2016 film) was the highest-grossing film of 2016 in Europe with a total of $209 million, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and in India (although it was later surpassed by "Sultan", in terms of Hollywood/imported films, it is still the biggest). The film received praise for its visual effects, vocal performances, direction, musical score, and its faithfulness to the animated film. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 95% based on 306 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "As lovely to behold as it is engrossing to watch, "The Jungle Book"