Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle has received its first reviews ahead of its big Netflix debut next month and its apparently gory AF.
Who would have thought a classic childrens story would involve a lot of blood, trauma and display the true savagery of the jungle?
The newest take on classic The Jungle Book, directed by Andy Serkis, was supposed to be released in theatres via Warner Bros, but it then made the big change to stream on Netflix earlier this year and is being delayed from its original October release date.
Mowgli will be shown in selected cinema screenings before its big streaming release, and the visuals have been praised by critics who have seen the movie in advance.
However, film journalists are either unimpressed, unsure, bored or very taken aback by the gore. But they are still heaping the cinematography and CGI with a lot of kudos.
One review describes one of the characters as a serial killer, which is an obvious reality of what a tiger would be in IRL – but it just isnt the fairy-tale take we are used to, we guess.
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The critic for Pajiba admitted to dropping their jaw at the positively insane film, declaring it crazy that so much gore has been permitted in childrens movie rated PG-13.
Kirsty Puchko writes for the publication: This movie is positively insane. Its insane that Serkis decided what The Jungle Book needed was grit, trauma, and slatherings of blood. Its insane that Serkis was allowed to make such a gory childrens movie. Its insane that its rated PG-13. And its insane that as bonkers as this is, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle is remarkably boring.
As it is, separate from whether or not its a good movie, its unclear who Mowgli is meant for. Its not quite kid-friendly enough to appeal to The Jungle Books audience, and a little undercooked to totally land with adults, commented Karen Han for Polygon.
The end result proves to be more of a murky muddle, said Michael Rechtshaffen for The Hollywood Reporter.
Kate Erbland from Indie Wire said: … Not entirely appealing to either kids or to adults, while essential characters are either accomplished effects work or dismal renderings.
As a consequence of the few reviews currently floating around, the movie currently sits at 38% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film stars Rohan Chand, who plays Rudy Kiplings Mowgli in a film that brings together stop-motion techniques with live action sequences.
More: Netflix
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Serkis has used such techniques in his portrayal of Gollum in The Lord of The Rings and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes. The character of the bear Baloo will be rendered in this way.
Disneys The Jungle Book was planned for release around the same time as Serkis feature, back in 2016, and he was ultimately relieved that Netflix purchased the film, as it gave him time to finish the post-production capture techniques and avoided comparisons between the two, now released two years apart.
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle swings onto Netflix on 7 December
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