The Jungle Book (PG)
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Also known as "Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book", because of course it's loosely based on Kipling's books (which I haven't read). The movie came out in 1994, but I didn't see it until 2025. There are several nods throughout the movie to Disney's 1967 animated adaptation of Kipling's first book, but this movie isn't a remake, as it focuses mainly on the second book, I guess.

Set during British rule of India, it starts when Colonel Geoffrey Brydon (Sam Neill) is traveling through the jungle, along with his 5-year-old daughter, Kitty, a native guide named Nathoo, his 5-year-old son, Mowgli, a surgeon named Dr. Julius Plumford (John Cleese), and other assorted British soldiers and Indians. One night, their camp is attacked by a tiger called Shere Khan, who kills Nathoo and some others. During the tumult, Mowgli and his wolf cub get lost in the jungle, and are presumed dead. Not long after that, Mowgli is befriended by a panther (Bagheera) and a bear cub (Baloo).

The movie then flashes forward some years, when Mowgli (Jason Scott Lee) is an adult. He's still friends with his now-grown wolf (whom Wikipedia calls "Grey Brother", though I don't think a name was actually given to him in the movie), as well as Bagheera and Baloo. (The animals in this movie don't talk, unlike Disney's animated version.) Mowgli himself seems to have forgotten how to talk, but we see him going about his life for a little while. One day, a monkey steals a bracelet Kitty had given him years ago, and he chases after it. The monkey leads him to an ancient city that's now inhabited by monkeys, and ruled over by an orangutan, who now has his bracelet. Mowgli finds a bejeweled dagger, and is soon after that attacked by a python. It's unclear to me whether he killed it with the dagger, or merely wounded it. (A python will be seen again later in the movie, but I couldn't tell if it was the same one or not.) Anyway, the orangutan gives Mowgli the bracelet after he defeats the python.

Some time later, Mowgli meets the now-grown Kitty (Lena Headey). She's romantically involved with a soldier named Captain William Boone (Cary Elwes), though it's not clear how much she actually likes him. When he playfully pretends to attack Kitty, Mowgli protects her. Then Kitty and William return to the village where they live, Mowgli sneaks in, but is eventually captured and imprisoned. However, when Kitty sees his bracelet, she realizes who he is. She and Dr. Plumford begin re-teaching him to speak, and how to behave in civilized society. Meanwhile, William and a few of his friends have discovered Mowgli's dagger, and want him to lead them to the ancient city, which is full of treasure. William also gets engaged to Kitty (though she never technically agrees to his proposal, it's what her father wants). Mowgli returns to the jungle, and Kitty breaks up with William. So her father is going to send her to England, but William and his friends kidnap Kitty, to force Mowgli to take them to the treasure.

And I guess that's all I want to reveal of the plot. It's a fairly entertaining story. And... I wish I could think of more to say about the movie, but I can't.