Review – Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a movie victim of nostalgia hate. Before anyone has seen the movie, they immediately hated it due to their undying love for the original film. I understand that the original Jumanji (1995) is a favorite amongst people who grew up in the 90’s (myself included), but it isn’t one of those “untouchable” movies. It isn’t Vertigo (1958) or The Godfather (1972), hell, it isn’t even peak Robin Williams like Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) or Dead Poets Society (1989), so the hate is only warranted by nostalgia love and maybe some poor marketing (the trailers weren’t very good).
But Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a pleasant surprise. It does have some dumb moments and questionable logic, but offers up a number of laughs and a lot of excitement to make for a wildly entertaining film.
Know before going in that this movie is a sequel and not a remake or just a movie that takes the name of another one for financial gain. The movie begins right where the original left off, where a kid picks the infamous board game up from a beach. The movie then goes on to show that the board game ends up at a local house and given to a teenage boy. The boy throws the board game on his shelf, scoffing at the idea of playing a board game. Overnight, the board game magically becomes a video game system, game, and controllers (four of them), which immediately peaks the kids interest, causing him to play the game and get sucked in. How the board game became a video game system with a game and four controllers is the movies biggest mystery. All we see is a green light that flashes and then poof, we have a video game. Is this Jumanji board in charge of its form? How does this change happen? How does it know its audience? I’ve spent more time thinking about this board than the screenwriters, so I’ll just leave it be.
The movie then jumps twenty years into the future, where we meet the nerdy Spencer (Alex Wolff), the athletic Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain), the quiet Martha (Morgan Turner), and the popular, social media obsessed Bethany (Madison Iseman). All four end up in detention, for one reason or another, which requires them to clean out the school’s basement, where they find the Jumanji system and game. They decide to play and get sucked in the game.
Now in the game, the usually wimpy Spencer is now archeologist and team leader Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), the large and buff Fridge is now a short zoologist and weapons carrier Moose Finbar, the quiet, conservative Martha is now the sexy, badass Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillian), and the pretty Bethany is now the overweight cartographer Professor Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black). Together, in their new bodies, the group must overcome their flaws and avoid losing their three lives in order to get back to the real world.
The movie’s success lies in it’s cast. Everyone is great and they all own their characters. Dwayne Johnson continues is domination on the cinematic world, doing what he does best: light up the screen with his charisma and kick some serious ass. Johnson never does anything special in a movie, he’s just a delight to watch. Kevin Hart is someone who is good in doses, but can be over exposed and annoying. Here, he is just perfect. His one-liners are expertly delivered and his banter with Johnson offers up some of the movie’s best scenes. Gillian is slowly becoming one of the best female action stars we have today, while also being able to flash her comedic side. And Jack Black steals the whole movie as Bethany. He owns the millennial lifestyle Bethany has created and is comedic gold. This is one of the best things Black has done in a long time.
With perfect odes to the original, exciting action, smart comedy, and a great cast, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a surprisingly awesome movie. Don’t let the nostalgia love fool you. This movie is as fun as the original.
Did you see Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle? What did you think? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.