Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle review

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE:

FUN IS THE NAME OF THE GAME HERE, AND IT DELIVERS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES

(From left to right) Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

            The animal world of Jumanji returns in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the sequel to the 1995 smash hit starring the late Robin Williams. That’s twice in a row Sony put out terrible trailers for movies that ended up being decent, the first being last year’s Ghostbusters.

            But unlike the recent Ghostbusters where I thought it was a decent film that still couldn’t live up to the original, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle actually manages to surpass the beloved 1995 Jumanji in a lot of areas while still paying tribute to a nostalgic classic and even Robin Williams. The movie thankfully doesn’t rehash the plot of the first film but rather expands on the world of Jumanji and the logic behind it with a subtle yet clever update.

            The film follows four teenagers being placed in detention and ordered to clean out their school’s basement. The teens consist of nerdy gamer Spencer Gilpin (Alex Wolff-My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, Patriots Day, My Friend Dahmer), pretty girl Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman-Modern Family, The Real O’Neals, Still the King), football jock Anthony “Fridge” Johnson (Ser’Darius William Blain-Jane by Design, Star Trek into Darkness, When the Game Stands Tall), and shy bookworm Martha Kaply (Newcomer, Morgan Turner).

            As they’re cleaning the basement, they discover an old video game console with a mysterious game cartridge inside of it called Jumanji. So, they decide to play the game to pass some time but after they selected their characters the teens get sucked into the game (Yeah, I’m calling it Jungle Tron, okay got that joke out of the way, moving on!) and become the avatars they’ve chosen.

            Spencer becomes archaeologist Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson-The Scorpion King, Fast & Furious franchise, G.I. Joe: Retaliation), Bethany becomes an overweight middle-aged man, cartographer, cryptographer, archaeologist, and paleontologist named Professor Shelly Oberon (The Shelly stands for Sheldon) (Jack Black-School of Rock, Kung Fu Panda trilogy, Goosebumps), Martha becomes commando and dance fighter Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan-Doctor Who, Oculus, Guardians of the Galaxy), and Fridge becomes short zoologist and weapons specialist Franklin “Mouse” Finbar (Kevin Hart-Think Like A Man, Ride Along, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie). In order to return home, they must finish the game by using their newfound skills and abilities to save the world of Jumanji from a demented explorer and hunter named Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale-The Station Agent, Ant-Man, Ferdinand, who was previously portrayed by Jonathan Hyde in the first film) who seeks to control an artifact known as the Jaguar’s Eye that has the power to manipulate the animals of Jumanji, otherwise it’s Game Over.

            The film also stars Jonas Brother, Nick Jonas as Seaplane McDonough, Rhys Darby (Yes Man, What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) as Nigel, Marc Evan Jackson (Parks and Recreation, 22 Jump Street, Kong: Skull Island) as Principal Bentley, Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Fury) as Frank Parrish, newcomer, Mason Guccione as Alex Vreeke, and Missi Pyle (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Captain Fantastic) as Coach Webb.

            Overall, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a lot of fun and an unexpected surprise in terms of movie releases. This could have easily crashed and burned which is what I was expecting when they first announced it, but I ended up being invested, thrilled, and was laughing all the way through.

            Most of the laughter comes from the chemistry between the main characters which they knock out of the park and even play with their stereotypes. Dwayne Johnson is still this tough brute on the outside but inside he has the mind of a cowardly nerd, Karen Gillan is this badass fighter who pretty much looks like a hybrid of Kim Possible and Lara Croft (and I’m sure nobody else on the internet has made that joke) but is being controlled by a socially awkward bookworm, Jack Black has the mind of a gossiping dumb blonde teenage girl in this middle-aged fat man’s body and it sounds like he’s having fun with his performance, and Kevin Hart is basically playing his usual characters, a loud, angry, short man, but it’s made funny because the person controlling him is a football jock with attitude.

            The movie also pokes fun at video game tropes and if you grew up as a gamer or ever played a video game then I’m sure you’ll get these. Like the characters falling from the sky and landing at the respawn point after a death, status screens being activated through squeezing an ab or in Ruby Roundhouse’s case…you know, these three tattoos that resemble their lives and magically disappear when they die, the list goes on and they’re beyond hilarious.

            I will say I’m a little split on the use of CGI in the film, sometimes it can be very impressive but other times there’s an overabundance of CG that seems unnecessary and a little fake. It doesn’t ruin the movie but it can be noticeable at times when something is obviously CGI and could use a few more practical effects, the effects in the first movie felt more impressive because it came out in the mid-90s and CGI was still a new tool, however the monkeys didn’t quite age well.

            Here’s a nitpick I’m sure you’ve never heard me complain about before, the MPAA’s rating for the film, there’s no reason for this movie to be rated PG-13. It’s inspired by a children’s picture book by Chris Van Allsburg, the tone is brighter in this film compared to the gloomy and bleak tone of the first film which was a PG rated family movie, and the language and suggestive comments aren’t graphic or vulgar, you can get away with dick jokes and swearing in PG rated films, was this like a Gremlins or Temple of Doom thing where parents complained about the edginess of the first Jumanji when it came out?

            Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a fun adventure for the entire family that pays homage to the original film as well as Robin Williams while still being its own movie. To me that’s the sign of a good sequel, one that doesn’t rehash the first movie or constantly reference the events that occurred but rather continues the story and gives something new, yes there’s no Robin Williams in this and maybe not every joke gets a big laugh or the movie has a completely different tone than its predecessor, but you know what? Who cares, it’s fun in the jungle that’s worthy of a high score.