Immersed in the mighty jungle of Andy Serkis’ new film, no one will sleep tonight. Completely swerving Disney’s playful approach, Netflix brought audiences a darker adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book,” merging live-action and motion-picture animation that vividly bring the animal kingdom to life. The film follows Mowgli (Rohan Chand), a man-cub raised by wolves who has been stripped of his identity and seeks to find his place in the jungles of India. Throughout the film, he withstands pressure and physical tests of skill in order to gain entry into the wolf pack and later fight the evil tiger Shere Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch). “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle” is based on the well-known children’s story, but its target audience remains unclear. The slow pace is seemingly tailored toward an adult crowd but fails to be captivating, while the violence and dark intentions sprinkled throughout are clearly not for the eyes of a … [Read more...] about Movie review: ‘Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle’ tangles dark and dull despite stunning visuals
The jungle book review
Movie review: ‘Mowgli’ no king of the jungle
Adam Graham Detroit News Film Critic Published 9:21 AM EST Dec 7, 2018 Talk about bad timing. It's certainly not the fault of director Andy Serkis or his film, "Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle," that it was beaten to the punch by Disney's live-action remake of "The Jungle Book." But it is this movie's cross to bear, and "Mowgli" crumbles under the weight of the competition. Serkis' film — a decidedly darker spin on Rudyard Kipling's tale — was actually in production before the Disney version, which hit theaters in 2016. But following Jon Favreau's blockbuster, which uniformly tops Serkis' version in terms of visuals, heart and sense of purpose, "Mowgli" feels like table scraps. Rohan Chand plays Mowgli, who is raised by wolves in the jungles of India. Stalked by Shere Khan (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), a Bengal tiger who killed his parents, Mowgli seeks revenge, but first must learn the ways of the jungle through Bagheera (voice of … [Read more...] about Movie review: ‘Mowgli’ no king of the jungle
‘Mowgli’: A wildly impressive — and very dark — version of ‘The Jungle Book’
Movie review “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle” is a bloody good version of “The Jungle Book.” And I do mean bloody. Mowgli the man-cub is introduced as an infant, covered in blood. It’s the blood of his mother, slain by the ferocious tiger Shere Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch, menace echoing in every syllable of his voice work). Thus is the course of the story set: Mowgli will be stalked and threatened until one or the other of them winds up dead. “Nature, red in tooth and claw,” as Tennyson wrote, could have been the guiding principle behind the screenplay by Callie Kloves and the direction by Andy Serkis. Everywhere, fangs are bared, by Mowgli’s panther pal Bagheera (Christian Bale), burly bear buddy Baloo (Serkis) and the assorted apes and monkeys that snatch the kid from the jungle floor and carry him off to a gloomy cave lair. No previous screen rendering of the Rudyard Kipling classic — not the 2016 Disney live-action epic and … [Read more...] about ‘Mowgli’: A wildly impressive — and very dark — version of ‘The Jungle Book’
Film Review: Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle
2018, PG-13, 104 min. Directed by Andy Serkis. Voices by Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale, Naomie Harris, Jack Reynor, Peter Mullan, Eddie Marsan, Tom Hollander. Starring Rohan Chand, Matthew Rhys, Freida Pinto. REVIEWED By Richard Whittaker, Fri., Dec. 7, 2018 Tweet print write a letter Walt Disney did not create The Jungle Book. That was the work of Rudyard Kipling, the British author: A child of the empire, his series of two books of short stories and poems (and the successor work, Just So Stories for Little Children) were complicated morality tales and fables, discussing the responsibilities of being human in the context of the animal kingdom. The stories crossed terrain from the winding mountain passes of Afghanistan to the icy waves of the Bering Strait, but mostly those locations and animals are forgotten. Instead, adaptations have gone back to the story of Mowgli, the boy raised by wolves, who finally liberates the jungle from the … [Read more...] about Film Review: Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle
At Home in the Jungle, Everything Is ‘Alive and Has a Spirit’
Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Subscribe Log In Subscribe Log In Advertisement Lens Supported by The photographer Misha Vallejo has been documenting a people who live in the Ecuadorean Amazon, the Sarayaku Kichwa, for three years. ByDavid Gonzalez April 20, 2018 The Sarayaku Kichwa who live in the Ecuadorean Amazon believe in the “Living Jungle,” where rivers, land, animals and even the wind are interconnected. “Everything in the jungle is alive and has a spirit,” said Misha Vallejo, who has been documenting this indigenous community for three years. “If you destroy something, you will see the consequences somewhere else.” Like at news conferences, at international forums and on social media. These venues have been used by this indigenous group to fight oil exploration in one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems. They scored a victory in 2012 when the Inter-American Court … [Read more...] about At Home in the Jungle, Everything Is ‘Alive and Has a Spirit’