Review of Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018) by Queen Beyond T — 07 Dec 2018

Notice how most of the negative critic reviews are more focused on soundin quippy in their totally subjective generalizations about the tone and visuals, than they are analyzing the actual moral content, characterization, and story arc.

Okay, we get it- it's not for little kids, there are no kiddie songs, and the animals look strange. Get over your egos, forget the watered down Disney versions, and listen to what the incredibly streamlined and morally rooted dialogue is saying.

Study it objectively. Every line of dialogue, every scene, every moment is grounded in the original central moral problem presented by Kipling; 'Must one's childhood be set aside to become an adult?' Where the cartoon shows a boy becoming a man, and the other Disney version showcases a boy getting revenge on a tiger, this version explores the darker side of identity, family, home, rejection, revenge, violence, anger, chaos, legacy, and the cost of peace.

It's not perfect of course, and the tone does make it difficult to discern a proper audience, but it's truer to the original book than any of the other adaptations we have seen before. There is violence in the world, there is darkness, there is injustice, there is bloodshed, there is bleakness- if you're not teaching your child this than your kid is in for a big surprise in the real world.

The acting is also incredible, especially when it comes to the young kid Mowgli who performs with a compelling strength way beyond his years.