Unlike a lot of other 90s kids, I didn’t grow up with Jumanji, the 1995 movie based loosely on Chris Van Allsburg’s childrens’ book. I didn’t watch it until later in life and thought it was only okay. So going into Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, I didn’t have the nostalgia a lot of other people do for its twenty-two year old precursor. And maybe that’s one of the reasons I didn’t find it so bad.
Four teenagers forced to work in their school basement for detention come across a console game called Jumanji. They decide to play it, but upon selecting their avatars they’re transported into the game. Now playing as Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), Mouse Finbar (Kevin Hart), Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), and Professor Oberon (Jack Black), the four must survive the jungle adventure and complete a quest before they can be freed from the game, each granted only three lives to do it in.
Transplanting regular people in the world of the Jumanji game is a much more interesting premise than just bringing elements of the game into the real world. And though its not really original (hell this idea goes back to Tron), the story device of trapping someone in a video game has rarely been done well. Because of that, this does feel more fresh and certainly different from the original Jumanji, while still paying respects. This movie is a sequel as it establishes pretty early on, and makes a couple references to the earlier film. The world of the Jumanji game is fun to see too. It’s inspired by that jungle adventure genre of The Lost World or Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novels, and it’s nice to see on screen again, energetic and entertainingly campy. And the movie has a lot of fun with the video game world, playing with things like the limited responses of non-playable characters, player stats, and cut-scenes.
However it doesn’t quite take advantage as much as it should in this regard. There’s a lot of minutia inherent in video games that could be made fun of. After a while, once the characters become accustomed to their new environment, the efforts to satirize the mechanics and tropes of the art form dwindles substantially, mostly taking shots at the appearances of their avatars in contrast to their real-life looks and personalities. To this regard, the worst jokes are often related to this; specifically the frequent gags at the expense of a self-absorbed dimwitted high school diva now being in the body of Jack Black. This character will get a laugh sporadically and Black is putting his all into it, but there are a couple moments where it gets really bad. To a lesser degree is the overt sexiness of Ruby, who in one scene has to use this to distract some villains in a cliché that’s really outdated. The writing for these characters isn’t the strongest, especially when they’re just the kids. They’re a quartet of stereotypes: the insecure nerd, the football star, the conceited popular girl, and the reserved loner (all that’s missing is Bender). The actors aren’t bad, they just have to work with poor characterization, particularly Madison Iseman, who has to replicate Black’s later over-the-top performance. Once they enter the game though, it’s subverted somewhat and far less noticeable.
Johnson brings his usual charm and comedic prowess to this film, as well as his sheer stamina. Though the self-awareness with his character is mostly complimentary, he still conveys a sense of humility and is engaging enough to follow. Gillan is really good too, in a role larger than she’s had in Hollywood movies yet and demonstrates her comedic abilities well. Even Hart manages to get some good laughs, his manic delivery working within this framework. Again, the outlier is probably Black, who has his moments, but too often feels like a gimmicky impression. The chemistry between the four is good, though a few developments are once again, pretty lame and predictable. The movie also features Nick Jonas, a hilarious and very welcome Rhys Darby, a brief appearance by Marc Evan Jackson, and Bobby Cannavale in a good fit as a cheesy game villain.
The homages to the original Jumanji are relevant too in certain story beats, and even some of the effects. They aren’t awful, but there are elements of the animals and the world that are unconvincing. However it works here because of the video game environment and the imperfections that go along with it. In fact there are a number of minor issues that could be excused for this set-up.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is an above average adventure comedy. Whether you like it more or less than its predecessor depends on your nostalgia for it, but this movie is enjoyable. It doesn’t try to have the heart of the 1995 film, nor is it family-friendly, but it makes up for that with a likeable story, decent performances, and some good comedy. Far from the best movie to see this time of year, but way better than the other Christmas comedies still hanging around.
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