'MOWGLI: LEGEND OF THE JUNGLE' (2018) Dir. ANDY SERKIS
Warner Bros. Pictures, Netflix
Age Certificate: 12A
IMDb: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 53/100
Plot
Human child Mowgli is raised by a wolf pack in the jungles of India. As he learns the often-harsh rules of the jungle, under the tutelage of a bear named Baloo and a panther named Bagheera, Mowgli becomes accepted by the animals of the jungle as one of their own, but the fearsome tiger Shere Khan doesn't take a liking to him. But there may be greater dangers lurking in the jungle, as Mowgli comes face to face with his human origins.
Trailer
A darker take on the beloved children's book; Serkis demonstrates adventure and fantasy through the use of motion capture performance.
This movie cannot be compared to Jon Favreau's 'The Jungle Book' (2016). Disney manages to capture the beauty of the jungle in their adaptation whereas if we were to really appreciate the story of the well-known book, Serkis' adaptation is the film for you.
Whilst Disney did well hiding the reality of what the jungle is really like, Serkis isn't scared to. The film demonstrates the true and dark nature of the jungle, a much harsher environment, one that isn't filled with friendly and good-spirited animals that love to sing.
Mowgli (portrayed by Rohan Chand) is raised by a pack of wolves and unlike the Disney's version in which all the animals immediately accept Mowgli as one of their own, Serkis' adaptation presents Mowgli as a character who must earn his place in the pack. This gives a large room of development for the main character which many movies fail in doing so.
This also shows the cruel reality of the jungle and packs of animals.
Motion Capture Performance
Here's a look at the actors behind the spectacular characters:
Cast
Christian Bale 'Bagheera'
Cate Blanchett 'Kaa'
Andy Serkis 'Baloo'
Naomie Harris 'Raksha'
Benedict Cumberbatch 'Shere Khan'
Andy Serkis talks about the performances portrayed by Christian Bale as well as analysing the motion capture performance:
Behind the scenes featuring the art of motion capture as well as the production of the film:
Andy Serkis does a spectacular job in mixing reality with fantasy, on top of that, bringing motion capture performance onto a larger scale. It is more than just CGI as we, as an audience, can experience an emotionally driven performance by the cast. Serkis uses the advantage of motion capture to enhance the emotions within the animals - something Disney lacked in doing as everything was primarily computer generated which lacked showing key facial expressions and therefore, isn't as emotional as it could have been for me.
On Instagram, I put up a poll, asking a handful of people what they would prefer go into a film - computer generated images (CGI) or actors in motion capture performance by actors. This was the results:
My rating: 8.2/10
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'The Martian' review is up next and then I will be back on film recommendations and more film reviews. 📽
Sabina 🦁
