Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
3.5/4
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Nick Jonas, Bobby Cannevale, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman
Rated PG-13 for Adventure Action, Suggestive Content and Some Language
Oh God...another sequel/reboot/reimagining/whatever they're calling it now of a hit from 20 years ago with a brand name and a significant uptick in action and special effects to appeal to the world audience and what not. That's what I was thinking, so it was not a movie I was eager to see. However, I do occasionally get surprised on this job when a movie turns out to be better than I expected. This is one of those occasions.
For various reasons, Spencer (Wolff), Fridge (Blain), Bethany (Iseman) and Martha (Turner) have found themselves in detention tearing out staples in magazines so they can be recycled. There, they find a mysterious game console with a game titled "Jumanji" in it. Bored, they all decide to play it. The trouble starts when they get sucked into the game and get turned into the characters they're playing as. So nerdy Spencer becomes a burly adventurer (Johnson), shy Martha becomes a sex bomb who could give Lara Croft a run for her money (Gillan), and giant football player Fridge shrinks to play a tiny sidekick. Poor Bethany fares the worst: the, like, totally vain popular girl becomes a pudgy scientist (Black). They have to find a way to make it to the end of the game before they get trapped in it forever. Or worse, die permanently.
"Jumanj: Welcome to the Jungle" is one long rip into 90's era video games. If there's a trope from games like "Tomb Raider" that the movie doesn't skewer, I must have been laughing too hard to notice. Multiple lives, character stats and the like are used and lampooned in clever, and hilarious, ways. It also has a lot of fun with the body switching aspect of it, with the stars playing their "real" personalities. This leads to some uproarious scenes such as The Rock being shy around girls or Jack Black giving tips on seduction to Karen Gillan. Black is front and center for the film's most outrageous bits involving penis envy that are funny enough to be worth the price of admission alone. The male anatomy hasn't made me laugh this hard since "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse."
What makes this film work is that no one is phoning it in. Everyone from the screenwriters to the actors is giving it their all. The actors, in particular, are worth praising since all the big stars are willing to sacrifice all semblance of dignity to play world class goofballs. In addition to keeping the audience in stitches, it adds a bit of sweetness to the film as well. In addition to being a laugh riot, it's likable too.
The only elements that don't hold up are the action scenes and the villain. The gunfights and stunts are rather pedestrian, although there is a scene with a helicopter that reminded me of the bridge scene in "Speed" (I'm dead serious). The villain is also lacking. Bobby Cannevale chews the scenery with gusto and certainly isn't above looking like a complete doofus, but he's miscast. If Jason Isaacs parodied his Lucius Malfoy character, it would have worked. As it is, his few scenes fall flat.
Columbia is apparently making the same mistake that Warner Bros. made with "In the Heart of the Sea." They're releasing it in tandem with "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." I'm seeing it on Christmas Day with my family (hence the lack of review), but this "Jumanji" is worth seeking out on its own terms. I had a ball with this movie.
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Nick Jonas, Bobby Cannevale, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman
Rated PG-13 for Adventure Action, Suggestive Content and Some Language
Oh God...another sequel/reboot/reimagining/whatever they're calling it now of a hit from 20 years ago with a brand name and a significant uptick in action and special effects to appeal to the world audience and what not. That's what I was thinking, so it was not a movie I was eager to see. However, I do occasionally get surprised on this job when a movie turns out to be better than I expected. This is one of those occasions.
For various reasons, Spencer (Wolff), Fridge (Blain), Bethany (Iseman) and Martha (Turner) have found themselves in detention tearing out staples in magazines so they can be recycled. There, they find a mysterious game console with a game titled "Jumanji" in it. Bored, they all decide to play it. The trouble starts when they get sucked into the game and get turned into the characters they're playing as. So nerdy Spencer becomes a burly adventurer (Johnson), shy Martha becomes a sex bomb who could give Lara Croft a run for her money (Gillan), and giant football player Fridge shrinks to play a tiny sidekick. Poor Bethany fares the worst: the, like, totally vain popular girl becomes a pudgy scientist (Black). They have to find a way to make it to the end of the game before they get trapped in it forever. Or worse, die permanently.
"Jumanj: Welcome to the Jungle" is one long rip into 90's era video games. If there's a trope from games like "Tomb Raider" that the movie doesn't skewer, I must have been laughing too hard to notice. Multiple lives, character stats and the like are used and lampooned in clever, and hilarious, ways. It also has a lot of fun with the body switching aspect of it, with the stars playing their "real" personalities. This leads to some uproarious scenes such as The Rock being shy around girls or Jack Black giving tips on seduction to Karen Gillan. Black is front and center for the film's most outrageous bits involving penis envy that are funny enough to be worth the price of admission alone. The male anatomy hasn't made me laugh this hard since "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse."
What makes this film work is that no one is phoning it in. Everyone from the screenwriters to the actors is giving it their all. The actors, in particular, are worth praising since all the big stars are willing to sacrifice all semblance of dignity to play world class goofballs. In addition to keeping the audience in stitches, it adds a bit of sweetness to the film as well. In addition to being a laugh riot, it's likable too.
The only elements that don't hold up are the action scenes and the villain. The gunfights and stunts are rather pedestrian, although there is a scene with a helicopter that reminded me of the bridge scene in "Speed" (I'm dead serious). The villain is also lacking. Bobby Cannevale chews the scenery with gusto and certainly isn't above looking like a complete doofus, but he's miscast. If Jason Isaacs parodied his Lucius Malfoy character, it would have worked. As it is, his few scenes fall flat.
Columbia is apparently making the same mistake that Warner Bros. made with "In the Heart of the Sea." They're releasing it in tandem with "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." I'm seeing it on Christmas Day with my family (hence the lack of review), but this "Jumanji" is worth seeking out on its own terms. I had a ball with this movie.
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