[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”11566″ img_size=”900×600″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)
Director: Andy Serkis
Cast: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomie Harris, Andy Serkis, Rohan Chand, Louis Ashbourne Serkis
Writers: Rudyard Kipling and Callie Kloves
Cinematography: Michael Seresin
Composer: Nitin Sawhney
“I… am the jungle’s eyes. I can see the past, and the future. It is I, Kaa, who witnessed the coming of man.” – Kaa
When some fans hear a film is going to be light-hearted they think that the film isn’t going to be serious or when other fans hear that a film is going to have a darker tone they automatically think it is going to be serious and suck the fun out of the movie, but Netflix original movie Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, directed by Andy Serkis and Disney’s The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau, proves that the same story, but different styles can be equally effective on telling their version of a story.
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle is about a man-child, Mowgli played by Rohan Chand, being raised by wolves to survive the jungle and the danger known as Shere Khan, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Being raised by wolves and learning new things from Baloo, played by Andy Serkis and Bagheera, played by Christian Bale. Fair warning many people did not like this movie because of how different the story is told. There is no musical number like Bear Necessities, I wanna be like you, and Trust in me. This film goes deeper into Mowgli’s character arc.
“When you were a cub, I looked you in the eye and saw no fear. I believed that one day you would bring peace to the jungle. But you have become a man now.” – Akela
Andy Serkis is very talented being in films like Lord of the Ring as Gollum, Black Panther as Claw, Planet of the Apes as Caesar. His work is legendary. Now he is going into directing. Andy’s Serkis first directing debut was in 2017 called Breathe which got pretty good reviews, sixty-seven percent critically and now Mowgli, which has a fifty-nine percent on Rotten Tomatoes. You can tell that he is new to directing because he is trying to find his voice as a director. He does a great job directing Rohan Chand and all of the humans even though they do not talk much, he finds a way, visually to get Mowgli emotionally attached to them,
His weakness is his background on doing CGI characters for many years. Andy does not have any restraint the CGI characters look way too real. With Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle Andy Serkis has hit his point called the Uncanny Valley this is a point where something looks way too good to be real. Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle could have been a bit longer to flesh out Bhoots, played by Louis Ashbourne Serkis. Andy did a great job developing his main character but unfortunately ran out of time to focus on one central character that is most important in Mowgli’s story. Everything else in the film besides the animals is spot on beautiful, this is also thanks to the cinematographer.
Michael Sersesin, who has done cinematography for Dawn for the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes, and Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban. Michael Sersesin is underestimated as a cinematographer and should do hired for more movies in the future and hopefully, this film will help. Andy Seriki and Michael Sersesin attention to detail is pure perfection every camera angle, every camera shot, and every camera movent are spot on and sets the mood of the film beautifully.
“I lived in a king’s palace, in a cage just like this. I bit, and I scratched, and I spent my entire life fighting. Until one day, I just stopped, and they gave me their trust. Gain their trust, and they’ll let you out.” – Bagheera
Overall I prefer Jon Favreau version of The Jungle Book and the animated, but Andy Serkis version has somethings I felt were messing in Jon Favreau film and that is the perspective of the humans. A great Character arc, beautiful cinematography, but CGI was overdone and some characters could have been fleshed out a little bit more. I really hope that Andy Serkis does more directing and continues with acting as well.
Score: C+[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVBjPpUlQrE” align=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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