Were it not for the fact that audiences still had the gamey aftertaste of Disney’s most recent adaptation of The Jungle Book in their mouths, chances are likely that there’d be much more buzz about Andy Serkis’ upcoming adaptation of the Ruyard Kipling book soon to hit Netflix.
While the basic plot elements of the two movies appear to be more or less the same, what Mowgli really seems to be capturing that Disney’s film didn’t quite nail is the humanity its cast brings to the jungle’s talking animals—something one can attribute to just how much of the Serkis-directed story utilizes motion-capture performances.
Between that and Serkis’ decision to tell a darker, more grim story about the evils of colonialism that both influenced Kipling’s racist worldview and ultimately factors into how Mowgli comes to live in the jungle, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle might just be worth going to see it during its limited theatrical release on November 29 before it comes to Netflix on December 7.