Movie Review: Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle

Director: Andy Serkis

Starring: Rohan Chand, Christian Bale, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomie Harris, Peter Mullan, Matthew Rhys, Louis Ashbourne Serkis

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 104 minutes

When most people hear or see that the new Mowgli movie was added to Netflix on December 7^th, their first thoughts are, “Isn’t this The Jungle Book?” and “Didn’t this already come out?” And they wouldn’t exactly be wrong in having these thoughts. Coming just two years after Disney’s live-action adaptation directed by Jon Favreau, it’s nearly impossible to watch Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle without constantly comparing both films. And even though Mowgli is touted as the “darker, grittier” version of the classic story (not to mention many works of fiction throughout history get adapted to film multiple times), the short time between each release doesn’t do the newer film any favors. Needless to say, there’s already a lot going against Mowgli.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, despite all appearances, is a much different film than its predecessors.There aren’t any musical numbers. The jungle, while beautiful, is a world full of danger and deception unlike the fun Disney version. And everything is coatedwith a thick layer of dirt and filth, from the themes of the movie to Mowgliand the animals themselves.

Not to mention, the animals themselves have a distinctly disturbing look to them. Their hair is matted and dirty, they’re covered in flies, and lovable characters from the Disney version like Baloo are disfigured and scarred. Serkis, known for his extensive motion-capture work in many of your favorite movies like Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes, employed mocap within this film as well which results in all the animals having humanoidfaces and expressions as well, which adds to the unsettling look of the film.

While I didn’t find the CGI in this film to be all that impressive (especially when compared to the 2016 film’s almost photo-realistic animals) excluding a few instances, something about the freakish appearance of the animals fit with the rest of the film’s dark and dirty tone. Beyond this, Serkis has some amazing talent in his cast to carry each role with grace; ChristianBale’s Bagheera is the mentor-like “older brother” of Mowgli like in previous versions, but here he has more depth to his character than we’ve seen before. Serkis himself portrays Baloo who rather than be a lovable goofball has more of a teacher/protector role in this film. Benedict Cumberbatch shows off his villainous side once again as the intimidating Shere Khan. And Cate Blanchett gives us an amazing performance as the prophetic snake Kaa.

And I must give props to Rohan Chand, the young actor who portrays our titular character. Being the protagonist in such a character-driven story such as this one, he carries the role with incredible skill and really sells each scene with his acting. And if we’re going to constantly compare this movie with the 2016 Disney version then it must be said that Rohan Chand delivers a much stronger and compelling portrayal of Mowgli than Neel Sethi. I love seeing such a talented young actor, and I can’t wait to continue following his most-certainly bright career.

As the movie’s title suggests, this story is much more Mowgli’s rather than in previous iterations. Mowgli’s story goes beyond just the jungle, and while the animals and the jungle are a central focus to the narrative the real crux of the storytelling is in Mowgli’s growth and his exploration into identity, belonging, and purpose. In this way, I found the concept and premise of this story to be much more interesting than previous Jungle Book films and I was ready to be the one to tell everyone I knew “THIS is the Jungle Book film that you have to see”. Unfortunately, Serkis’ greatest failing in the film is its grand scope and lack of focus. The movie tries to cover too many different topics and ideas, which shifting tones and plots coming in and out and with many of them having no real conclusion. While I really loved what Serkis was trying to do with this film, the lack of focus really hurts the film and at times I felt like the film (along with the audience) lost track of where thefilm was going or what it was trying to say.

Despite my criticisms, I feel that this is an enjoyable filmthat really should be seen. Being a Netflix original, it’s a great movie to cuton while lounging at the house, and even with its low points the high points ofthe film are alone worth the watch. And even though I believe that comparing thisfilm to the 2016 version more often than not hurts this film, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle is a goodmovie to watch after the 2016 version to give yourself a new look at old friends.