Likable characters breathe life into mediocre reboot
MOVIE REVIEW
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” isn't a straight remake of the 1995 Robin Williams board-game adventure film. It's more of a spiritual sequel or reimagining. If it was a jungle in there for Williams, it’s a jungle out there for Dwayne Johnson and pals in this video game-inspired romp directed by Jake Kasdan.
No longer is Jumanji a simple board game where a roll of the die can unleash a supernatural jungle explosion at home.
This time around, Jumanji is an old videogame console and cartridge dusted off by a motley crew of highschoolers stuck with detention one afternoon. The breakfast club fires it up, selecting their avatars.
Neurotic nerd Spencer (Alex Wolff) chooses Dr. Smolder Bravestone, hulking jock Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain) picks zoologist Moose Finbar, smartypants Martha (Morgan Turner) is Ruby Roundhouse, while the selfie-obsessed Bethany (Madison Iseman) goes for the “curvy cartographer” Professor Shelly Oberon.
In a gust of goldishgreen dust, the teens are vaporized into the video-game world of Jumanji and into their respective physical game forms — Spencer inhabits the musclebound body of Dwayne Johnson; Fridge, the diminutive Kevin Hart; Martha gets a Lara Croft-style wardrobe, modeled by Karen Gillan; while Bethany turns into Jack Black. It’s a transformation that’s strangely intriguing for her.
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” is a onejoke movie, relying on physical stereotypes — and the subversion of those stereotypes — but thanks to impeccable Directed by Jake Kasdan.
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casting and fun performances, the joke is well-executed.
Once inside the game, it’s a fairly standard quest: The group has to replace a gem that’s been stolen from the eye of a giant jaguar statue that watches over the jungle. That will break the curse perpetuated by Bravestone’s former partner, Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale), who has stolen the jewel and become greedy with the power to rule all creatures of the jungle.
The video-game device offers a few wrinkles the crew has to contend with — nonplayer characters who guide their way but parrot their instructional speeches over and over — and levels to defeat before they move on.
The camera often zooms out to show viewers a saga map, detailing where they have to go. But mostly, the action of “Jumanji: Welcome To the Jungle” is a lot of running, jumping, yelling and falling. It all becomes increasingly muddy, especially during a wild climax involving a motorcycle ride up the face of a mountain.
All of that is easy enough to overlook when the characters are as likable as they are here.