Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)
…………………………………………………
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle Movie Review
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle is a 2018 adventure film directed by Andy Serkis and starring Rohan Chand and the voices of many famous actors. It’s a respectable, but flawed effort.
………………………………………………….
“I’m not a man! But neither am I a wolf“
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
I do not have a huge problem with this movie existing as many do. It’s not the same as the 2016 Disney version in style, approach and talent involved so it coming just two years apart did not bother me. Yes, ultimately the movie did not differentiate itself all too much, but it’s still a different film, particularly in its second half.
I personally found the first half as well as the second half both rather admirable in what they were trying to do, but both failed as both had their separate issues. For the first half, I found that it was going through the motions rather than being truly engaging and it just never gained enough momentum for me. I liked all of its scenes, but I didn’t love any of them.
Also, for a movie that touts itself for its darkness, I found that artistic approach also unfulfilling. Yes, those brutal scenes can be quite effective (the death of one wolf was truly devastating), but the movie should have gone full R-rated instead of PG-13. If you want dark and realistic, you should go full R rating because the animal world is extremely brutal and unpleasant.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
As for that second half, I found it very intriguing. Again, it is much different than the Disney version in that way and also many other versions before it. I really liked Mowgli’s stay at the village and contact with the people. However, that part of the story arrived way too late in the game and thus it felt immensely rushed. Yes, the structure here simply does not work.
Mowgli is okay, but Rohan Chand did not give all that good of a performance as he struggled in his emotional outbursts. John Lockwood is a typical character for this type of film. Bagheera is great and Shere Khan is quite good, but this version of Baloo is never as funny or as endearing as the Disney one. Kaa is excellent and quite memorable and I really liked each of the wolves as they had quite an extended role here, but the addition of Tabaqui the striped hyena was a welcome one. Bhoot himself is such a wonderful, tragic character.
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle features some great, but some not so good special effects. The animal designs are mostly atrocious. I was frustrated just by looking at them as the added human characteristics on their faces really made for an ugly, unappealing and unrealistic look. However, other than that, the movie looks terrific and I hugely applaud the filmmakers for actually shooting the film on location (in Africa, not India, but still…) and for creating the entire village on their own. That made for a much less artificial and more real look of the film.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
The dialogue is also pretty good as is the action. Some of the action scenes are quite exhilarating and brutal. The movie is also filled with solid acting and voice performances. As for Andy Serkis, this is his first directorial effort and he’s rather competent, but again I appreciate more his idea than his eventual execution.
They should have gone full R rating with Mowgli. If you want to be as realistic as possible and as edgy as possible, the animal world is very brutal so PG-13 did not suffice. But still, some scenes are quite brutal and one death in particular was quite disturbing. I appreciated that it was shot on location, but the animal designs are pretty atrocious and overly humanized in faces. This movie is particularly strong in many of its individual, great scenes and a pretty respectable effort overall, but as a whole, the movie is incoherent as the first half goes through the motions and the second half, the more intriguing one, is rushed in pace and runtime.
