Mowgli - Okay

Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomie Harris
Director: Andy Serkis
Runtime: 1 hour, 44 minutes 
Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | 2018 

Because I'm such a huge Disney fan (yes, I know this movie isn't Disney), when I saw this other take on the classic Jungle Book story I wanted to add it to our watch list - also because it's a Netflix film which means FREE! So I sat down to watch this film and was decently surprised at what it ended up being. There were no sing-songs or fun moments, it was truly raw and I would assume (just assume, since I've never read the book) that it follows closer to the book by Kipling than the children's version from Disney. The film focuses on Mowgli becoming a human regardless of how he grew up, and the way that once you grow up, you have to let go of your family's ways and carve your own path.

Rohan Chand plays Mowgli alongside many other big names in Hollywood voicing the animals that he befriends before coming a man. Christian Bale voices Bagheera, Cate Blanchett voices Kaa, Benedict Cumberbatch voices Shere Khan, and Andy Serkis voices Baloo - all the staples from the classic Jungle Book tale. For this film, I especially liked the inclusion of Mowgli's interaction with the man village. 

As for the special effects, I've said this about other films and I'm sure it doesn't make sense to anyone else but me, but they were TOO spectacular. Like enough so to where it was obvious that it wasn't real and that all the animals and jungle were just CGI. They weren't awful (Like Legend of Hecules), just a bit much. In the end, this movie was just okay in my opinion, I wouldn't say I enjoyed watching it, but I also wouldn't say it was a waste of time. (2.5/5).