JUMANJI :
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
Director : Jake Kasdan
Year : 2017
Genre : Comedy
Rating : ****
As was to be expected, the initial announcement of the fantasy reboot/sequel 'Jumanji : Welcome To The Jungle' was met with a great deal of criticism and derision, with the most dissenting voices coming from those who have a nostalgic affection for the frankly not-very-good 1995 original film starring Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt. However, like last years horror smash 'IT', 'Jumanji : Welcome To The Jungle' updates it's source for modern audiences and, subsequently, surpasses it's predecessor in almost every conceivable way, whether it be character or story, tone or narrative structure.
Beginning like a 21st century remake of John Hughes' teen classic 'The Breakfast Club', 'Jumanji : Welcome To The Jungle' sees four young students serving detention when things take an unexpectedly strange turn and they are sucked into the world of Jumanji, a video game cartridge they just happen to find in the schools dusty basement.
After landing face-first in the dense and dangerous forests of Jumanji, the kids discover that their personas have been transferred into the avatars of the respective characters they initially chose to play the game. The dorky Spencer (Alex Wolff) has now been transformed into the smouldering Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), the Ally Sheedy-esque Martha (Morgan Turner) has acquired the man-killing skills of Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), the football-playing jock Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain) is transported into the body of diminutive zoologist Franklin Finbar (Kevin Hart) and, most hilariously, the vain, Instagram-obsessed queen bee Bethany (Madison Iseman) is now the middle-aged and overweight cartographer Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black). Together, using their characters various strengths, talents and physical attributes, our four young heroes must traverse various levels to lift the curse of Jumanji, beat the game and return back home.
After landing face-first in the dense and dangerous forests of Jumanji, the kids discover that their personas have been transferred into the avatars of the respective characters they initially chose to play the game. The dorky Spencer (Alex Wolff) has now been transformed into the smouldering Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), the Ally Sheedy-esque Martha (Morgan Turner) has acquired the man-killing skills of Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), the football-playing jock Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain) is transported into the body of diminutive zoologist Franklin Finbar (Kevin Hart) and, most hilariously, the vain, Instagram-obsessed queen bee Bethany (Madison Iseman) is now the middle-aged and overweight cartographer Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black). Together, using their characters various strengths, talents and physical attributes, our four young heroes must traverse various levels to lift the curse of Jumanji, beat the game and return back home.
From the very beginning, the movie looks great on the big screen; with expansive locations and impressive CGI creature effects effortlessly creating an exciting backdrop for the fun while Jake Kasdan's zippy direction and Henry Jackman's jovial unscoring help to keep the excitement levels at a maximum high. But beyond the exciting action scenes and nice imagery, what really gives 'Jumanji : Welcome To The Jungle' its weight are the performances from the very talented cast, all of whom both young and old deliver some of the best work of their respective careers. The four lead adult actors are especially hilarious here and each one manages to wring the most humour out of every situation possible - usually by poking fun at themselves as well as their on-screen personas.
Echoing the self-deprecatory charm that made 'Central Intelligence' such an unexpected treat back in 2015, Dwayne Johnson is very likeable as the strong yet sensitive Bravestone while 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' star Karen Gillan flexes her comedic chops for the first time as the beautiful and bad-ass Ruby Roundhouse whose powers truly come to light when the dulcet tones of Peter Frampton's Baby, I Love The Way fill the air. Kevin Hart too is very amusing, playing up the I'm-a-small-person shtick that has proved to be so effective in previous comedy movies. However, it is the always entertaining Jack Black who ultimately steals the entire show as the 50 year old Sheldon whose churlish personality perfectly reflects the whiny temperament and bitchy nature of the high-school drama-queen trapped inside of him. As well as getting some of 'Jumanji : Welcome To The Jungle's biggest laughs, Black also gets to take centre stage in some of the films most unexpectedly hilarious sight gags, a heavily trailed scene involving a rather hungry hippo is a particularly comical and surprisingly horrifying highlight.
Echoing the self-deprecatory charm that made 'Central Intelligence' such an unexpected treat back in 2015, Dwayne Johnson is very likeable as the strong yet sensitive Bravestone while 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' star Karen Gillan flexes her comedic chops for the first time as the beautiful and bad-ass Ruby Roundhouse whose powers truly come to light when the dulcet tones of Peter Frampton's Baby, I Love The Way fill the air. Kevin Hart too is very amusing, playing up the I'm-a-small-person shtick that has proved to be so effective in previous comedy movies. However, it is the always entertaining Jack Black who ultimately steals the entire show as the 50 year old Sheldon whose churlish personality perfectly reflects the whiny temperament and bitchy nature of the high-school drama-queen trapped inside of him. As well as getting some of 'Jumanji : Welcome To The Jungle's biggest laughs, Black also gets to take centre stage in some of the films most unexpectedly hilarious sight gags, a heavily trailed scene involving a rather hungry hippo is a particularly comical and surprisingly horrifying highlight.
Overall, 'Jumanji : Welcome To The Jungle' is everything I wanted it to be and so much more. As someone who isn't at all enamoured by the original movie, I was hoping for something different and thanks to some very clever decisions by both Kasdan and his team of scriptwriters, I got just that. Video game fans will recognise and appreciate the many tropes and conventions used cleverly throughout the film while gaming muggles will still have plenty of laughs and thrills to enjoy. Sure, there are plotholes galore and lots of things don't make any sense whatsoever but when you're having such a good time, does it really matter? Relentlessly charming, consistently funny and complete with enough references to the 1995 film to fully satisfy the need of dewey-eyed nostalgists, 'Jumanji : Welcome To The Jungle' is a delightfully uplifting adventure that demands more than a few replays.
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