Netflix’s Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle is more than just simple bare necessities

There are no Bear Necessities here, Netflix’s Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle benefits from being told through a darker lens.

While you may believe there are already one too many retellings of Mowgli, the fictional character from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book stories, Netflix’s Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle feels like an entirely new story. It’s told from an entirely different perspective and it shows mother nature is cruel and not at all pretty.

Disney’s animated version is fun and made for kids. The violence is minimum and the movie features catchy tunes. Jon Favreau later directed a remake, The Jungle Book, not too long ago in 2016. Favreau’s version showcased the story beautifully, with equally breathtaking creatures.

The panther is elegant in Favreau’s The Jungle Book, and Baloo the bear appears soft and cuddly. The jungle was an attractive place with welcoming animals. You’ll be seeing none of that elegance in Netflix’s Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. 

More from Movies

• The story of a French emperor: Here’s where Napoleon will stream after theaters
• The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes honors its origins and far surpasses them
• Thanksgiving movie death toll: Why [SPOILER] is still alive
• No, Thanksgiving is not streaming yet (But here’s where it’ll land)
• Trolls Band Together soundtrack guide: Which songs play in the movie?

Andy Serkis’ movie is dark, cruel, and the animals are not cute. Unlike Disney’s animated tale, Mowgli is not for young children. Particularly those who expect to see a clean and cuddly Baloo.

It’s no longer about the bare necessities. Baloo (voiced by Andy Serkis) is all about fighting to survive and never letting your guard down. And the silly and fun apes you remember from the animated version? Forget them. You’re about to hate monkeys, and possibly have nightmares about them, too.

Cate Blanchett voices Kaa, the all-knowing serpent. She has a different view of Mowgli in this movie than what we’ve seen in other takes, and plays a bigger role in this plot, as well.

Benedict Cumberbatch lends his voice to Shere Kahn, the tiger who kills Mowgli’s parents and is determined to stop at nothing to get Mowgli, too.

A pack of wolves take baby Mowgli in and protect him from Shere Kahn, something they know they won’t be able to do forever. This is one of the many ways Mowgli differs from other versions.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle spends a lot of time watching Mowgli grow with the wolves and learning the ways of the pack. This isn’t something we got to witness in either Disney’s animated tale or Jon Favreau’s story. Nearly half of the film is about Mowgli and the pack. And even after that large portion, we see the wolves again towards the ending and in the final moments.

Viewers will meet more humans than just Mowgli, who is portrayed by the brilliant Rohan Chan in a performance that deserves all the praise. Almost as amazing as Chan’s work is the film’s motion-capture technology. It perfectly captures how dark and cruel nature is. With Andy Serkis as director we weren’t expecting any less from the motion-capture department. He truly delivers.

The story of Mowgli benefits from being told through a darker lens. Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle is captivating, as realistic as it can get, and king of the jungle.

The movie arrives on Netflix (as well as a few theaters in a limited release) this Friday, December 7. It’s rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, including bloody images, and some thematic elements.