Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) Review!!!!

Synopsis – Four teenagers discover an old video game console and are literally drawn into the game’s jungle setting, becoming the adult avatars they choose.

My Take – The original 1995 film from director Joe Johnston holds a special place in the hearts of almost everyone who grew up in the 90s. The impending sound of doom in the form of heavy drum beats whenever a potential threat arrived on the horizon is one of the things which resonates in our minds when we look back at the quirky, fantastical and dark film starring the excellent late Robin Williams. Sure, the effects don’t hold up as well, but the film remains fun and with a lot of heart. Even though, the original was supposed to be a one-and-done film, despite the tease for a potential sequel right before end credits kicked in, 22 years later Sony has found a way to the unleash the mayhem once more on the modern generation with hopes of reviving the adventure once more, perhaps with more sequels in mind. Personally disappointed by the trailers, I walked into the cinema with fairly low expectations, while expecting a reboot more in the lines of rehashing and just done with a better cast. However, I can safely say that film left me pleasantly surprised, as the film took a fresh spin on the original and even took efforts to work as a standalone film, all the while honoring the legacy that began with the Robin Williams led film. Taking place 22 years after the events of the first film, the titular board game has evolved into a video game after an incident back in 1995. Now moving forward to 2017, the story follows four high-school teens – the geeky Spencer (Alex Wolff); a sports-jock Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain); a self-obsessed beauty queen Bethany (Madison Iseman); and the self-conscious and shy Martha (Morgan Turner), who find themselves in detention.

While cleaning up the old basement as they were tasked by their principal (Marc Evan Jackson), the four discover an old yet playable video game known as Jumanji and before they know it, the four get sucked into the game & find themselves in the form of the avatar they chose to play as, i.e. Dr Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson); Moose Finbar (Kevin Hart); Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan) and Professor Shelly Oberon (Jack Black). Stuck in unknown territory, together they must play along and finish the game to stand any chance of getting back home. Without a doubt, the best part of the sequel are its nostalgic references to the 1995 film. Here, the sequel, tips its hat towards a couple of Easter eggs that will take you back to the nineties, a good time. The animatronic animals, the familiar sounds of wild life hidden in the bushes, and a few shout outs to previous characters are quite well placed to revive the spark the prequel made years ago. The movie is all about what it would be like to truly live out the game as the characters treat each adventure like a level in the video game and have to overcome these adventures without losing the three lives they are given. Directed by Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), the film is surprisingly not even close to as bad as I feared, and I would gladly watch it again sometime in the near future. The evolution of the titular board game to a video game is one of the sensible ways that the creative team have managed to bring us a sequel two decades after the original was released. Keeping in mind the kids of today, it’s the only way they would be interested in watching a film in which a game changes itself to attract new players. Gamers who go and watch this film will have an especially good time with the film’s nods and respect to the video game format, especially the non-player character gags which work really well, even with the general audience and the dramatic cut scene with the players commenting is a nice add in. The film thematically treads the same sort of ground that other teen movies tend to cover, mainly the stereotypical high school tropes get thrust into a situation that forces them to work together to correct each other’s flaws and by the end they return to their ‘normal’ lives as better people. There are different messages and morals on the 4 different characters. Since they are kids in the real world it shows how each one has things they have to improve on to be better in the real world, being less self-absorbed on their beauty, and being more assured as a male and being more assured as a female. Each of the characters represent these traits in which they try to make themselves better and being transported into a jungle world as video game characters helps them do this. There’s a fifth character who has no character change though and is just kind of there, I guess he learns not to take advantage of others and becomes softer. The male and female trying to be more assured accomplish this and also become romantic with each other, while the self-absorbed female learns to appreciate things, not vain things like her phone, but nature. Now all that character-building twaddle aside, this movie is filled with a lot of hilarious moments. Unlike, 1995 predecessor, this sequel is more toward the comedy side, considering it has Jack Black & Kevin Hart in it, and successfully does manage to provide a good amount of laugh out loud moments. Much fun is had with the sex change of Bethany’s character, with the middle aged & oversized Professor Shelly Oberon.

The characters all have strengths and weaknesses, like for example Kevin Hart‘s character’s weakness is Cake, which is hilarious. But the most humor derives from the “three lives and it’s game over” device giving the opportunity for various grisly ends, often relating to the above referenced weaknesses. Spreading the humor throughout kept things fresh for me and changing up the style only further kept me laughing. However, the component I loved was how tasteful the stupidity was, managing to combine wit and slapstick into a blend that is just a hoot to watch. I feel this style will work for a wide variety of ages, though beware of the occasional curse bomb to light up the screen. Did I approve of all the character choices and humor? Certainly not. Jack Black is a naturally funny guy, but I wasn’t too fond of his portrayal of a popular teenage girl. All of the characters are stereotypes obviously, but for some reason that the character at times rubbed me the wrong way. Sure, the penis joke at first is funny, and the scene where he teaches Karen Gillians‘s Ruby Roundhouse how to flirt is hilarious. Yet, Jack Black is somewhat given a one note to play as “ugh”-y teen narcissist and it gets a bit tiring when there isn’t something completely genius for him to say (which is often). It’s to the point where, and I never thought I’d say this, Hart gets more or just stronger comedic material than Black does, or at least to an extent knows how to use the material better to his advantage. Where the film gets bogged down is in too much cod-faced philosophizing over the teenager’s journeys. This is laid on in such a clunky manner in the early (slow!) scenes that the script could have been significantly tightened up. Also, like most video game based films, the primary antagonist here, known as Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale) is very one- dimensional, and while the narrative isn’t necessarily harmed by it, it does stand out as something that’s lacking. Unlike the 1995 version, here he has a cool power to use, but sadly Van Pelt doesn’t utilize it very well. In addition, his cronies are a little anticlimactic in terms of threatening the jungle, being more roar than bite. A few lousy maneuvers, a threat here or there, and some lame minions just didn’t do it for me in regards to development and design. The film relies almost entirely on its star power & it is a treat to watch this four interact with each other as they play the game. Where the charm resides, though, is the actors playing against their types through the means of real-world to video game body switching: Johnson embodying a nerdy hypochondriac, Hart an all-star jock, Gillan a shy insecure reject, and perhaps most brilliant of them all (on paper), Black housing a she’s-all-that pretty girl & it’s quite clear that no one is having more fun here than these four. Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan all make the film a good entertainment; Dwayne Johnson with his smoldering look skill arched eyebrow and all is hilarious. Kevin Hart has the rant style down, focusing on energetic, loud delivery with a little cursing to sweeten the pot. Jack Black provides the awkward comedy, yet manages to take it one step further by acting out all the mannerisms that modern teenage girls exemplify. Meanwhile Karen Gillan was totally different from the other roles that I had seen earlier as she provided few funny moments, with the funniest one relating to her dance fight with two evil guards. Nick Jonas as the fifth wheel too gets a few moments to shine & does well. As the high schoolers, Alex Wolff, Madison Iseman, Ser’Darius Blain and Morgan Turner play their parts well. Unfortunately, Bobby Cannavale is wasted. Now does the sequel succeed over the quality of the original film that had the beloved Robin Williams? Well no, I still loved the original film and also because the idea of a board game bringing real threats to the world from big spiders, a herd of elephants breaking through a house, and a flash storm in the living room was excellent, this film itself on its own is still good and fun. On the whole, ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ is a decent adventure film that works as a fun addition to the Jumanji franchise thanks to its great ensemble cast.