Time: 119 Minutes
Age Rating: PG – Violence, coarse language & sexual references
Cast:
Dwayne Johnson as Dr. Xander “Smolder” Bravestone
Kevin Hart as Franklin “Mouse” Finbar
Jack Black as Professor Sheldon “Shelly” Oberon
Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse
Nick Jonas as Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough
Bobby Cannavale as Van Pelt
Director: Jake Kasdan

Four high school kids discover an old video game console and are drawn into the game’s jungle setting, literally becoming the adult avatars they chose. What they discover is that you don’t just play Jumanji – you must survive it. To beat the game and return to the real world, they’ll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, discover what Alan Parrish left 20 years ago, and change the way they think about themselves – or they’ll be stuck in the game forever.

Recently I decided to rewatch Jumanji and I enjoyed it. I admit however that I was very reluctant going into the newer Jumanji movies starring Dwayne Johnson. They seemed like they were fun but overall passable average adventure comedies that happened to have the Jumanji name attached to it. However, it turned out to be far better than I was expecting.

The storytelling is pretty generic and predictable. However I think that it achieves everything it sets out to be, especially in being a fun adventure flick. It is technically a sequel to the 90s original, and there are some references to it. Overall though, Welcome to the Jungle is largely standalone. One notable aspect is the fact that it changes things up; instead of people playing Jumanji as a board game, its represented as a video game that the main characters are literally sucked into.  While this doesn’t seem like a great idea on paper, if you’re making a 2018 version of this concept, it makes far more sense to use this approach instead of having it as a board game again. And for what its worth, the movie has a lot of fun with this idea. It touches on the tropes of 90s video games and plays on their logic, from each player having their own strengths and weaknesses (and three lives), to how NPCs and the world function. It also works somewhat as a coming of age story for these four characters, with them dealing with relatable teenage scenarios and situations including anxiety, identity, etc. While not all the jokes worked, I found most of it to be pretty funny, more than I was expecting them to be.

The characters are definitely stereotypes and archetypes of teenagers, and they go through some pretty familiar arcs. Thankfully the cast are entertaining and carry much of the movie, with great comedic timing and them sharing great chemistry together. The actors for the younger characters including Alex Wolff do well in their screentime but it mostly comes down to Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan as the video game avatars, and they really work in their parts. The best aspect is how their real world selves are very different from the appearances and avatars they find themselves donning, and in many ways they are playing against type. Dwayne Johnson gets a bad rep for playing the same character in most of his movies, but here he plays a teenager who wakes up in the body of Dwayne Johnson and does a good job at conveying this. All four are really good, but the standout to me was Jack Black. There is a weak villain in Bobby Cannavale, but for what it’s worth, he’s at least committed to his role.

Jake Kasdan’s direction is solid enough. There are some good action sequences and things are shot well, making for some entertaining if forgettable set pieces. The CGI is fine but goofy, it does at least go in line with the characters being trapped inside a video game.  

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was much better than I was expecting it to be. It’s a really enjoyable adventure comedy, which particularly benefits from the great cast. Whether you’ve seen the original Jumanji or not, I think its worth checking out.