serge_elia Review of Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)

Disappointing in parts, but awesome in others

[7/10 · 7 December 2018]

Andy Serkis' Mowgli was announced prior to Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book, and it is said to be much darker and much more faithful to the Rudyard Kipling original stories. However, I still stand on this: the Favreau film was also dark (with its terrifying portrayal of Shere Khan, brilliantly voiced by Idris Elba), and was also faithful to the books. Anyway, I waited for the Serkis film with anticipation, and when I watched it today on Netflix, I say this: I loved it, but some parts were disappointing. What is great and what is unsatisfactory?

• What is unsatisfactory: I felt that I was rewatching the Favreau film. I'm not kidding: I felt that this movie was a copy-paste remake of the... remake! With the *exact same* elements: Bagheera finds Mowgli (BTW, it should be "Mowgli" as in "now" and not "no") abandoned in the jungle after Shere Khan kills the boy's mother, and then entrusts our hero to the wolves; at one point, the panther tells Mowgli that he must go to the man-village, since "the jungle is no longer safe for him", all due to Shere Khan's growing threat. Got any Disney flashback, anyone?

Also, while Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan is definitely scary, he still doesn't match Idris Elba's portrayal of the character - Serkis did describe the character as "a damaged individual", but Elba's portrayal is in my opinion MENTALLY DERANGED. I did not like Serkis as Baloo nor Tom Hollander as Tabaqui the hyena (interesting, since I thought the character was a jackal in the Kipling stories), the both being just over-the-top. Additionally, the scenes with Freida Pinto as Mowgli's adoptive human mother are great; however, the character was mostly silent throughout the movie, and there wasn't a lot of relationship between her and Mowgli. Instead, the film focused on the greedy British hunter, played by Matthew Rhys, who was way stereotyped and clichéd in my opinion. Last but not least, the biggest flaw was probably the visual effects. While still impressive visually, the movie did not show entirely realistic animals, unlike the Favreau film, which nailed it with its far more astonishing CGI.

• What is great: the action scenes are top-notch and scary, not to mention ungodly realistic (with lots of shots showing blood), the plot is indeed far more faithful to the Kipling books than any of the Disney adaptations, the cast is talented, especially Cate Blanchett as Kaa, the most frightening character of them all. But the ultimate best character is definitely Rohan Chand as Mowgli: his role was much more difficult than Neel Sethi in the Favreau film, and yet he nailed it with his performance; as a result, we get to see a true feral child from the jungle, with the conflict he is going through (wondering where he belongs). Also, the way he discovers and interacts with the humans is hypnotizing.

So, on the whole, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle is a good film, really fun and entertaining, with amazing moments that capture the essence of the source material, and a talented cast, though not without its flaws.