Jumanji heads to the jungle
JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman. A fun game, sometimes overplayed
KIND of a sequel. Kind of a reboot. Kind of happy to do its own thing.
That’s the wash-up for Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, the frenetic follow-up to the cherished 1995 family adventure gem Jumanji.
As everyone should recall, the original movie followed its young characters as they were caught inside a board game come to life. A generation on, and the stereotypical youths of this tale are now stuck inside a video game come to life.
But wait, there’s more (arguably, too much more). All of the teens have now been bodyswapped into adult avatars.
Which means a nerdy teenager like Spencer (Alex Wolff) will now have the brawny bravado of a Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
A mousy teenage girl like Martha (Morgan Turner) will now have the babe-licious bravado of a Karen Gillan.
A he-man, high-school quarterback like Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain), will now have the scaredy-cat, motormouth of a Kevin Hart.
Oh, and in the movie’s best jokey twist, a selfie-obsessed teenage girl like Bethany (Madison Iseman) will now have the flabby frame of a Jack Black.
So far, so Freaky Friday, right? Well, that’s not the only movie Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle is freely borrowing a few ideas from.
The school detention prologue that initially rounds up all the kids is a straight lift from the 1980s chestnut The Breakfast Club.
Once inside the familiar Jumanji game structure, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle kicks back for a while, and waits for some chemistry to take hold between Johnson, Hart, Gillan and Black, but it takes ages for them to nail down the right, rollicking vibe.
What does work very well is the video game aspect, which sticks closely to the multilevel, problem-solving ethos of the original Jumanji.
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle is empty-calorie escapist fun for the most part.