Monday, December 31, 2018

Mowgli | Gryphon's First Impressions

I must admit, it took me a while to figure out what to do with my blog when I first created it. It was out of sheer impulse that I decided to make a post about, of all things, my thoughts on the casts of upcoming Jungle Book movies.
But sure enough, I was able to find my footing and get it on the track it's on today. But now that the second movie I talked about has come out, I figure I should bring things full circle and give my thoughts on it.



Christian Bale and Rohan Chand in Mowgli (2018)
To start I need to say that this is not the Disney version of the story you grew up with. This is more comparable to the original Rudyard Kipling novel. The novel had a much darker tone and much of the characters behaved pretty differently.

I myself have never read the book, but based on my limited knowledge of it, this movie feels pretty authentic in replicating scenes from it. Well, the stuff with Mowgli stories anyway.
And to be honest, I really enjoyed the darker take on the story. 
Most of the cast did an excellent job with their rolls. Andy Serkis plays Baloo as more of a gruff and tough drill sergeant, but still with a heart of gold. Benedict Cumberbatch was casted perfectly as Shere Khan. And I really liked Christan Bale as Bagheera, he gives probably the most emotional preformance in the film. And the rest of the animal actors serve their parts well.

The CGI for the 2016 Jungle Book was and still is amazing to look at. The CGI for this movie is also pretty good, though I think I prefer the wolves in the 2016 version more. The wolves in this movie could've used a bit more of a touch up in some scenes. 

As for the human actors? Well, Mowgli was pretty good. This was certainly the most realistic take of a boy raised in a jungle by wolves I've ever seen.

The rest of the human cast feels like an afterthought. The hunter has somewhat of a story that isn't really expanded upon and the woman who takes care of Mowgli after he goes to the man village shows up and does nothing more of value.
I don't think those characters were even given names. 




Image may contain: 1 person, standing and text


While my heart will always belong to the Disney versions, I will always be open to different versions of classic stories even if they don't always work out in the end.
Luckily, I really enjoyed this version and may find myself watching it again on Netflix from time to time. I do wish I got to see it in a theater though. 
If you're looking for a new take on The Jungle Book and don't mind more darker elements, go ahead and check it out


Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and thank you for joining me here in my lair.
So long...


AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!



I hope you have enjoyed reading this and if you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, be sure to give my Facebook page a 'LIKE' to see updates and other related stuff. 
Thanks for reading!

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