In my initial review I noted that Mowgli makes a decision which ends up having terrible consequences. I was referring to the scene where Mowgli takes the "red flower" (the jungle creatures name for fire) from the man-village to fight Shere Khan, only to cause a massive fire in the jungle. At the time, I was of the opinion that this did not carry enough weight but I have since changed my mind. The film, in many ways, is a coming-of-age tale. In it Mowgli must embrace his "otherness" and make his own way. In the first act, Akela and Bagheera discourage Mowgli from using his rather human innovations. But when he meets Baloo in the second act, Baloo encourages him to use his ingenuity. He does this for selfish reasons (he wants Mowgli to get honey for him), but by helping Baloo Mowgli begins to learn how useful his innovations really are. Bagheera himself sees this in a crucial scene where Mowgli helps to rescue a baby elephant (a species treated with religious reverence by the other animals of the jungle) from drowning using some vines.
The red flower (the animal word for fire) is portrayed as the ultimate human invention, one which can bring death and destruction to the Jungle. It was fire that burned Shere Khan when he killed Mowgli's father, causing him to seek revenge against Mowgli. He sees fire as the thing which most separates humans from animals. King Louie, the king of the apes, also sees the powerful potential in being able to wield the red flower, causing him to kidnap Mowgli in hopes that he can help him achieve this power. When Mowgli takes the torch from the village he is only thinking of getting revenge on Shere Khan for killing Akela. When he sees the Jungle burning and the other animals shrinking away from him in fear he realizes the gravity of what he has done and the implications of wielding this kind of power. By facing Shere Khan on his own, using his wits and knowledge, and subsequently, by bringing the elephants to put out the fire, Mowgli takes his fate into his own hands for the first time and is able to accepts his "otherness" as a human living among animals.
I also mentioned in my initial review that I had not read Rudyard Kipling's stories prior to watching the film but was inspired to do so as a result. I have since read all of Kipling's Mowgli stories which, I think, enriched my experience when re-watching the film. The original stories are definitely darker and more violent. When Mowgli kills Shere Khan, for instance, he does so by luring him into a stampede where he is trampled to death and then proceeds to remove his hide, which he wears as a trophy. With that said this film is still closer to the books than the animated film was. In that film Mowgli returns to the village at the end. In the book he does not do this until after spending many years in the jungle. However, as in the animated film, Baloo is more of a lazy scam artist than the old master hunter of the books and Kaa has only a short, antagonistic role, while in the book he becomes an ally of Mowgli. In the end this film feels like a nice middle ground between the books and the animated version.
The Jungle Book is a really solid story about growing up and accepting responsibility. It's also a highly entertaining adventure and an unusually smart family film. It's my favorite film of 2016 so far.
Updated Score: 10/10
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