At the movies

‘Jumanji’ is fun; ‘Showman’ less so.

More than two decades after Robin Williams conquered that pesky board game, “Jumanji” has been resurrected with more and glossier stars (Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black), a comedy director and a “modern” twist.

The result, “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” is a very sweet, and generally entertaining body swap lark with some nice messages about being, and believing in, yourself.

Why it had to be “Jumanji” is the headscratcher. Even speaking as someone who was 12 when the first movie came out, and genuinely enjoyed the Joe Johnston-directed adventure and the fantasy of being swept up in a board game come to life, the idea that a die-hard “Jumanji” fan base exists, or that the “brand” is so rock-solid that it needs a reboot, seems dubious at best.

The conceit here is that when you’re transported into the game, you are suddenly a character in the game, in body, voice and skill set but with your earthbound personality pretty much intact. This is how mismatched teens sharing the same detention, including the nerdy, shy Spencer (Alex Wolff ), the football player Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain), the superficial popular girl Bethany (Madison Iseman) and the too-smart for gym class Martha (Morgan Turner), transform into avatars played by Dwayne Johnson (Spencer), Kevin Hart (Fridge), Jack Black (Bethany) and Karen Gillan (Martha).

It’s a role reversal for everyone — the nerdy girl is hot now (and scantily clad), the hot girl is a soft, middle aged man, the skinny guy is The Rock and the big football player is now tiny and wimpy — and they all have to go through the stages of learning to accept their new bodies, talents and shortcomings.

There is a lot of easy comedy in these situations. And all the main actors/avatars are kind of great at imitating the facial expressions of their teenage counterparts, especially Johnson and Black, and there’s enough for a fun holiday afternoon at the movies.