Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

"I, like, can't even with this place"

     I haven't seen the original 1995 Robin Williams adventure movie, at least not to my memory. A friend of mine gave it a description of being somewhat "scary", and given the era of its release, it wouldn't surprise me if it's imagery was somewhat hard to swallow. Twenty plus years later we're given the part spin-off, part direct sequel Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the next big Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson cinematic adventure. With a new generation to capture, whatever elements within the original that gave it that more dramatic pace are part of its past. The star-studded comedy is all about laughs, action, and some surprising depth.

     We get a faint glimpse of the nature of the game with a prologue of sorts, taking us back to 1996, focusing on a man finding the cursed game on a jog at the beach. Bringing it back home, he shows it to his son Alex, who's too focused on playing his videogames and jamming to his metal music. Soon strong tribal drums and a green glow take over his room, and in a zooming out shot, watch it fill the room and dissipate quickly through the bedroom window.

Source: Daily Express

     Jump forward to today, and we're introduced to neat-freak Spencer (Alex Wolff) athlete Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain) self-obsessed Bethany (Madison Iseman) and outsider Martha (Morgan Turner), who over the course of the school day, find themselves in detention Breakfast Club style, tasked with cleaning out the backroom for renovations. The principal while giving his punishment, is not without declaring the overall theme of the movie: who are you really, and who do you want to be? The movie plays off of its physicality premise quite well even early on in the movie, with the young cast of unfamiliars presenting their characters in honest light as to who they are and why they're in detention, with exception to Bethany's case (is it really that easy to just facetime right in the middle of class and kinda get away with it?) and later on when the movie shifts to its full sized counterparts. Whilst cleaning they discover an old Atari-style gaming system, with a cartridge for a game called Jumanji. Soon after some tinkering, our young heroes find themselves literally thrown into the videogame itself, becoming the heroic avatars they've chosen for themselves.

Source: Zee News

     Spencer finds himself as the incredibly strong and brave Dr. Smolder Bravestone (The Rock, in his eye-brow raising glory). Fridge becomes the small statured Frank "Moose" Finland (Kevin Hart), Bethany becomes the portly Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon (Jack Black), and Martha turns into the badass Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan). As they slowly unravel who they are and why they're there, they discover through some clever tongue-in-cheek videogame humor that the only way out of the game is to complete it, with returning a stolen jewel back to its original place before the sinister Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale) can retrieve it and condemn the land of Jumanji forever. The physicality returns in a more humorous context here, though a little disjointed in the transition to the heroic avatars, with our main cast now adopting their younger personas tendencies, which of course are the opposite. Spencer, while extremely muscular and strong, is still afraid of everything, having The Rock perform as a hesitant wimp. And Bethany, in her self-obsession, can't get over the lose of her phone despite knowing she's no longer residing in reality, since she's inhabiting the body of a man. Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan nail it just right in their depictions, showing a natural humorous confusion a la Freaky Friday that didn't come off so forced. Once everyone adjusts, the movies charm and humor start to shine.

Source: Bleeding Cool

     The cast delivers on all fronts on the laughs and on the nature of their predicament, even Bobby Cannavales Van Pelt, as limited as his antagonistic role was. Jack Black falls into his role naturally, using that classic energy of his to come off as a drama queen living her worst nightmare, but also depicting the growth of her coming out of her shell. Karen Gillan as well, with her demeanor and facial expressions, capture her younger selfs awkwardness, but someone who's not afraid to step up. As stated above, most of the movies humor comes from the body-swapping, with some dialogue focusing on innuendo for quick easy laughs, which I personally felt took away from the movies main hook. But the movie also delivers a fine amount of action, which helps keep the pacing at a enjoyable clip. A majority of that credit goes to Karen Gillans Ruby Roundhouse, using her martial-arts specialty to prove how strong she really is. 

     The movie goes its usual route about self-discovery and living in the moment, but what works is that each characters relationship compliments their opposities. Martha and Bethany bond over their insecurities, while Fridge and Spencer, who were old childhood friends, remind each other of their old bond. While making a discovery that rocks all of them to their core, it furthers the emphasis on living in the moment and that life is too short to be afraid, so spend discovering who you really are on the inside.

      This was a fun movie to spend an afternoon watching. It has everything an entertaining movie should have: a strong cast, humor, and engaging action. If you're looking for an enjoyable movie that's worth the admission, this is the lighthearted funfest you're looking for.

7 jaguar jewels out of 10

But that's just my opinion. What do you think? Comment below and be part of the conversation!