SINKING TO A NEW LEVEL

Repeated body-swapping in a harebrained second act tests the actors’ versatility but the rewards for us are scant. Contrary to the title, Kasdan’s second chapter is a disappointing step backwards.

It has been two years since high school students Bethany (Madison Iseman), Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain), Martha (Morgan Turner) and Spencer (Alex

Wolff ) were sucked into a Jumanji video game cartridge and played as larger-thanlife avatars to secure their return to the real world.

While Bethany, Fridge and Martha have subsequently embraced college life, Spencer feels disconnected in New York.

He returns to Brantford to spend time with his mother (Marin Hinkle) and grandfather Eddie (Danny DeVito).

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” grumbles the cantankerous old coot. “It’s all downhill from here.”

Haunted by Eddie’s gloomy summation, Spencer tinkers with the Jumanji cartridge and is magically transported back to the

CRAWL (15)

CRAWL is essentially Jaws with alligators, albeit with considerably more on-screen gore. Haley Keller (Kaya Scodelario), a member of the University of Florida’s intercollegiate swimming team, gets a call from her sister Beth (Morfydd Clark). Hurricane Wendy is about to pummel the east coast and their father, Dave (Barry Pepper), isn’t answering Beth’s calls. Haley drives to the family home and ventures into the basement to discover Dave unconscious and bleeding from a bite wound to one shoulder. The student comes face to snout with a hulking alligator, which has entered the underground space via a storm drain.

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