After several delays and a change in distribution company, Andy Serkis`s Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle is now out on Netflix. And it`s now clear why it didn`t get a theatrical release: As stunning and well directed as this adaptation of The Jungle Book is, there is no way parents would have allowed their kids to see this. Andy Serkis was crazy to make a gritty and bloody adaptation, and it is insane that it was rated PG-13, but that´s exactly what makes this version entertaining. Prepare for a whole new generation to be traumatized by what looks like a children`s movie.From the opening scene, Mowgli wants us to know this will not be the sweet, funny, sing-along version of the tale you´re used to. We begin with the brutal murder of Mowgli`s parents at the claws of the man-eating tiger Shere Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch, playing an even more evil version of Smaug the dragon). You thought Khan throwing that wolf over a cliff in Jon Favreau`s version was unexpectedly dark? Well how about a tiger jumping at a frightened family and then mauling the mother to death? Worst yet, the murder occurs just barely off-screen to maintain a PG-13 rating, but then when the black panther Bagheera (Christian Bale) finds Mowgli, he`s bathed in the blood of his dead mother. This culminates in a brutal battle that challenges Mowgli`s moral compass, as the film skips the use of fire and goes straight to a ferocious showdown between a tiger and a knife-wielding child. Nothing says kid-friendly like a knife fight!From there, any similarity with the previous adaptations is just a bare necessity, as we still get to follow Mowgli`s struggle to fit in as a wolf, being bullied by his pack for being different and hanging out with the panther and the bear who talk. Oh, and the kidnapping monkeys are also here, but instead of a jazz number, they try to kill Bagheera and Baloo. Speaking of, this Baloo (voiced by Andy Serkis) has no intention of singing and relaxing by the river, as he is a horribly ...
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