Jungle

The series Top Boy is the benchmark for British London urban black gangster drug dealing gang drama tv. When I saw the trailer for Jungle I expected something similar. Jungle is very different! Set in the near future the series focuses on the characters personal suffering. The drug/gang violence is prominent, but the individual struggles of the working class broken home adolescents is the main theme. The ad lib rapping is fresh and unique and it works wonderfully. The show is not about glamourising the gangster lifestyle but more about highlighting the hardships of the younger siblings that get caught up in the gang culture. Yes, some may argue that the show is more style over substance but I enjoyed it immensely. It is stunning from a cinematography point of view, and at only 6 episodes long I highly recommend watching!

PRO TIP: I recommend watching with subtitles to get the most out of the British slang!

Jungle brought some really creative heads come together to give us something fresh and unique. However, I felt more effort went into the style of the show than telling a solid story.

My main issue with the show was that it felt rushed and things didn't really pay off, instead story arcs were left at lose ends and even though the show tries to bring things full circle at the end, for me it didn't work as I wasn't given enough time to care for the characters involved.

This show gave us the idea of the characters breaking out into drill in certain scenes. This is an interesting idea and sometimes it really works, however there were times where it took me out of the scene as it felt forced on some occasions. As a drill producer, I really appreciate the effort to bring drill and mix it with a crime drama. However, this idea can be improved upon.

The setting of Jungle is also really interesting. A near future London looks visually pleasing but that's where it ends. The setting or technology shown in this series isn't used to push the story and while it seems they're going to do something with it at the start of the series, it didn't go anywhere which is something I quickly got used to.

I would like to see another season as I feel it can be significantly improved upon as the ideas are good but don't help to push the narrative. While I have my issues with the show, I appreciate the effort gone in to create something different hence my 6 star rating.

The first episode tries to be a mix between a musical poetry similar to romeo + Juliet while also trying to be like the kidulthood trilogy but it just fails at both unfortunatly, on the up side we get to see k koke make an apperance. Everything is just so bland.

Its like the show has identity issues, its not exactly cyberpunk although it tries so hard to be, with its bright neon lights in places where it has no business to be and lifts with no light at all... the whole episode just reminded me in the worst way of how a blade tv series could go so horribly wrong and yet its not exactly hip-hop either as actors will for no reason at all start rapping to eachother in the most bizarre places... theres no real explanation or proper transition.

Where to start?

This series is just as tired and warn out as the UK drill scene.

The amount of service level conversations portrayed as deep meaningful dialogue. Honestly, it's so highly cringe is almost unbearable.

The acting is very sub par...so much over acting, you can clearly see that every is trying, but it just looks forced, cringe and falls flat on it's face.

It's looks slick, but after a few slow motion panning shots this runs dry pretty quickly.

Overall a wasted opportunity with a big budget to do something great. If this gets renewed for a second season, I'll eat my hat!

It's a 1/10 for me.

I found this series to be very original and solid throughout the six episodes. It seems to me the people who gave bad reviews didn't watch the series all the way through. Maybe they were thrown off by the visual style or the musical numbers in the episodes? Sometimes I feel if subtleties go over people's heads they don't know what to do aside from criticize a show. If you can stick around through the whole series everything ties together well.

I am a fan of some British Hip Hop but this series introduced me to artists I hadn't heard of and they all did a pretty good turn acting in their roles. I really didn't find any of the actors to be bad. The performance by youngster Seyi Andes-Pelumi (kid on the poster image) was actually amazing. I usually don't like child actors but this 12 year old turned in one of the best performances I have seen from an actor that age in years.

If you are put off by the first episode maybe this series isn't for you but if you watch the entire series it is a interesting and sometimes heartbreaking ride.