By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Privacy Policy
Privacy Preference Center
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary CookiesAlways Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems.
They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services,
such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms.
You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
Performance Cookies
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance
of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move
around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous.
If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be
able to monitor its performance.
Functional Cookies
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and
personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose
services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies
then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners.
They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you
relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information,
but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not
allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Hollywood’s history of competing projects – from Lambada and The Forbidden Dance to Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down – reaches its peak, or possible nadir, with the release of Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. The retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s stories was meant to compete with Disney’s 2016 The Jungle Book before reported budget issues and delays forced it onto the shelf. Where Jon Favreau offered a skillful cover version of the 1967 animated film that paid tribute as much to Disney’s legacy as Kipling’s, Andy Serkis opts for an unnecessarily “gritty†adaptation that showcases the actor-director’s CGI-enhanced performances, but otherwise fails to make Mowgli’s coming of age meaningful or unique.Rohan Chand (Bad Words) plays Mowgli, a human child rescued from death at the jaws of Shere Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) by the black panther Bagheera ( Christian Bale) and raised by Nisha (Naomie Harris), Akela (Peter Mullan) and their wolf pack. As Mowgli grows into a sturdy, resilient young man, he finds himself constantly reminded that he is unlike his vulpine sisters and brothers, despite the bear Baloo’s (Serkis) best efforts to educate him about the laws of the jungle. But when Khan returns more determined than ever to kill Mowgli and assume a mantle of leadership in the jungle, Bagheera becomes convinced that the only way to protect him is to send him to a nearby human village where the tiger will not follow.Alienated from his fellow children, Mowgli settles uneasily into the routines of human life thanks to the kindness of a local woman, Messua (Freida Pinto). But just as he begins to acclimate to their rituals and customs, Mowgli simultaneously discovers the humans’ aptitude for animal cruelty, and he receives word from his Brother wolf (Jack Reynor) that Khan has successfully disrupted the harmony of the wolf pack. Stranded between two communities that grow equally foreign with each new turn of events, Mowgli decides to confront Khan directly, hoping not only to conquer his enemy but discover his rightful place, which may fall somewhere in between the worlds of animals and men.Serkis has long characterized Mowgli as a version of the story that audiences may not know, and in at least one way, he’s right: those expecting Louis Prima and the Sherman Brothers, not to mention attempts on the title character’s life that are more comical than bone-chilling will certainly be surprised – if not mildly traumatized – by this film. Mowgli’s origin story starts with him as a baby, covered in blood, sitting alone in the jungle as Shere Khan lunges at his parents, and finally, the camera. Serkis’ skill at generating believable performance-capture characters is so impressive that it’s honestly easy to forget that Rohan Chand isn’t actually being regularly terrorized by pythons and tigers and bears (and it does happen with alarming regularity). But the result of it is not a movie that makes audiences care more about Mowgli or what happens to him, at least not more than Favreau’s film, or even the ’67 animated version. This movie that takes itself so oppressively seriously that you lose a clear sense of what you’re supposed to take away from it other its impressive technical bona fides.Still, the film does offer plenty to admire. Bale’s soulful performance as Bagheera offers a sophisticated take on a character who has in previous versions been decentralized. Here, the character is Mowgli’s closest confidante and also the character who sees most clearly where he does and does not fit in amongst the jungle flora and fauna. Cumberbatch has gotten too good at playing this kind of snarling villain, but playing opposite the likes of Naomie Harris, Peter Mullan, Cate Blanchett and Serkis himself, there’s a cohesion to the ensemble that lends Kipling’s material a welcome if not necessarily meaningful gravitas.Unfortunately, as gifted as Chand is at reacting to imaginary animals, he (perhaps thankfully) yet lacks the life experience or acting capacity to make Mowgli’s identity crisis as nuanced or convincing as it needs to be. Perhaps some of the issue here is with Serkis and screenwriter Callie Kloves, who created a provocative existential dilemma for a character who might not yet be able to fully grasp all these issues. To be fair, that approach is a good idea, and one that hasn’t really been explored substantively, or at least in the way that Serkis does, in this character’s history on screen. But even if great stories are always worth telling, sometimes new versions aren’t necessary, especially when it’s unclear what their unique elements are. Ultimately, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle is well crafted and thematically rich, but all of its examinations of nature, nurture, and finding one’s place in a complicated world ultimately underscore truths less relevant to the jungle Kipling’s character calls home than to Hollywood itself.