Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle has finally hit Netflix and whilst the film is getting mixed reviews, that doesn’t mean that it should be ignored. The movie features an all-star cast and sets up an ending that adds a lot to the lore of to The Work by Rudyard Kipling.
Throughout this article I will be breaking down everything that you need to know about the movie as well as it’s ending. There will be heavy spoilers so if you’re yet to see it then I highly suggest that you turn off now.
For everyone else, I’m Deffinition and Welcome to the channel where I ruin it so you don’t have to!
Mowgli: Story Synopsis
After Mowgli breaks the laws of the Jungle and is banished from it, he begins to bond with his own people. After stumbling into a village, Mowgli is captured, freed and then forms a friendship with a Hunter named Lockwood.
Mowgli seems happy and even rejects the calls of his wolf brother, who is desperate to see him return and defeat Shere Khan, the tiger that murdered Mowgli’s family. However, Mowgli discovers Lockwood’s trophies which contain the remains of Mowgli’s friend. He takes an elephant tusk and returns to the Jungle to rally together the troops to finally take down Shere Khan.
Mowgli gains allegiance with the Elephants and they agree that once Shere Khan is killed, he will help them to get revenge on the Hunter who took the tusk. Mowgli tries to gain the Wolves as allies but they refuse due to the laws of the Jungle and Mowgli heads out without their help.
Mowgli: Ending Explained
In the final battle, Mowgli defeats Shere Khan with the help of elements and by using his wits. He lures the tiger up a tree and stabs him in the stomach. This causes the villagers to see what the commotion is and they arrive, with Lockwood in tow who takes pot shots at the Tiger. Mowgli points out that this is the killer that took the Elephant’s tusk and they charge him.
Meanwhile, Shere Khan attempts to pounce on Mowgli to finally kill him but the Wolves intervene and save his life. Akela who was always an adversary of Mowgli, sacrifices himself to save the boy and manages to deal Shere Khan a fatal wound in the process.
Mowgli follows him into the Jungle where he is finally able to kill his nemesis once and for all. Mowgli decides to return to the Jungle instead of humanity where he can oversee the Jungle as the Wolf Pack’s new leader. To me, Mowgli witnessed the ugly side of humanity first hand, where killing was done for Sport and those lorded as heroes were often evil. Whilst he did not align himself with the laws of The Jungle implicitly, he still was able to find the justice within them whereas the side of humanity that he witnessed had very little.
The Protector Of The Jungle
The voiceover by Kaa highlights this and states that there was peace in the jungle for as long as Mowgli watched over it. To me, this hammers home that he did indeed live out the rest of his days performing his duty as a protector. Due to his ability to interact with both animals and humans, one would imagine that he was able to sustain both societies and stop Hunters from ravaging the land and animal life that lived there.
Both Lockwood and Shere Khan upset the balance of the Jungle and Civilisation by going where they did not belong and Mowgli could be seen as someone who keeps these barriers up in order to protect life on both sides. Mowgli struggles with knowing whether he is fully a man or a wolf and by the films ending has decided that he is both. This symbolises that the village and jungle will be able to co-exist alongside one another in peace much in the same way that Mowgli has found peace within himself to let both sides of his persona exist as one.
Your Thoughts
So, what are your thoughts on Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle? Did you like the movie and what did you take from it’s ending? Comment below and let me know!
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.