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Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)


Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)



4/10



Starring the voices of
Christian Bale
Benedict Cumberbatch
Cate Blanchett


Directed by Andy Serkis


No matter what some say about it being unfair to compare this with Disney’s 2016 version of Rudyard Kipling’s book(s), I believe it deserves to be compared.
This movie is the passion project of director Andy Serkis, which was supposed to get a theatrical release until it was bought by Netflix. It comes to us as a dark version of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book tales about a child named Mowgli.

Disney’s decision to take a comedic spin, with beautiful, memorable music and very nice rewrites to the original tale, was more than welcomed when you see the final result.

In this movie, things follow a similar path. Mowgli’s parents were killed by Shere Khan, a crippled Bengal tiger. Bagheera, a black panther, found him and took him to a wolf family, where he was adopted.
He is trained in the ways of the jungle by the bear Baloo and is tasked with completing a trial that will help him move up in ranks.
Mowgli’s struggles aren’t just about being different from his wolf brothers—Shere Khan is also after him. Khan and his sidekick, Tabaqui, a striped hyena, are plotting and counter-plotting to kill Mowgli, with Khan breaking every known jungle rule.


Mowgli has to toughen up and stay alert because more challenges await him ahead.

After seeing the movie, I can see why Warner Bros. opted to sell the distribution rights to Netflix. The movie reminded me of Pan (2015). Warner Bros. tried to give a twist to this tale, but all we can recall is what Disney has given us. Pan (2015) was a box office bomb, and this would have been too, especially since all we do is compare it to Disney’s Jungle Book (2016). (This live-action version was based on Disney’s animated The Jungle Book from 1967.)

It’s safe to say that Disney has reshaped many tales in our minds. The downside to this is, when they do it, they do it well—and when others try their version of the same tale, it never measures up. I’m sure there are exceptions, but I can’t think of one right now.
This isn’t Disney’s fault, but rather other studios not getting enough backing in writing and marketing to give Disney a run for their money.

In the end, I feel like this movie should have just stayed on the shelf. It didn’t hit home for me and felt like a waste of time.



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