Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

I guess if you add The Rock to any franchise nowadays it automatically becomes that much more enjoyable…except for Baywatch. Stay away from that one.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sees four high schoolers, Spencer Gilpin (Alex Wolff), Anthony “Fridge” Johnson (Ser’Darius Blain), Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman), and Martha Kapley (Morgan Turner) experience the ride of their life when they are literally transported into the now digital world known as Jumanji. Once inside the game, they become the avatars that they chose, transforming into Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), Franklin “Mouse” Finbar (Kevin Hart), Professor Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black) and Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan) respectively, complete with their own in-game strengths, weaknesses and special powers. But now that they’ve arrived inside the game the only way out is to beat it, so without a second to lose and, like any good video game, only three lives to waste a piece, Dr. Bravestone and company set out on a journey to do just that before they lose the game and become stuck in Jumanji forever.

Sound familiar? Robin Williams did it better, so don’t get too excited.

For a movie that I was convinced shouldn’t have been made to begin with, this one is a pretty entertaining romp through what could have been a much more interesting and competent film had the allure of making a typical action/comedy with big name stars not been the driving force behind why this film got made in the first place. From the general idea of what the game of Jumanji is to the fun little set pieces that are sprinkled throughout the film, there’s a lot to like here, but not nearly enough of the spirit and thought that made the original so surprisingly fun to watch. After the first twenty minutes or so, and after getting somewhat attached and invested in the younger cast at play, the movie switches gears, bringing us into Jumanji itself and replacing the cast that we were warming up to with our celebrity stars. It’s here that the filmmakers give us our first taste as to why this film is completely different from the original, proving that while its not trying to be the same movie, it’s not exactly setting itself apart in the process either.

From big explosions to low hanging joke material, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle does a lot right even when its head and heart sometimes clash with what is more important to the film as a whole. One second we’ll be invested in the character’s plights whether it be Bethany coming to terms with not being the attractive popular girl any more or Spencer and Fridge working out their previous friendship problems, then the next we’ll be making terribly trite repeat jokes about male body parts or moving through a large action set piece that seems way too over the top for its own good. I don’t really mind the mash-up of ideas here I just wish that there was more of a focus on one rather than the other because as it stands, neither get the attention they deserve. Either you’re an endearing story about finding out who you are and where you belong like the original or you’re a typical action/comedy film that uses the Jumanji brand in name only. With the first half of the film being so well done in regards to the former, it was a little frustrating to see the film devolve into something typical and “mainstream” by the time the credits rolled.

I will say, however, that the casting is pretty spot-on in regards to both the younger cast and the “celebrity” cast that we see for the bulk of the film. The first act plays out with our younger characters, all of which – save for Bethany who’s characterization is really just tied to the fact that Jack Black needed to play her once they got into the game – are interesting and fun to watch. I almost lament the fact that the entire film couldn’t have used these actors because of the simple fact that it would have paralleled the original a bit more closely, but I guess this movie would have been totally different and probably never have been made if that were the case, so I digress. The fact that everyone here – once inside the game that is – generally plays against their type helps elevate this film by giving it a different feel than, say, a normal Kevin Hart or Dwayne Johnson film where they always essentially play a slightly different version of their real world selves. It’s an interesting angle that allows Johnson and Hart to try something else with their schtick and did just enough for me to make watching them more interesting than anything else. It also helps that their characters seem to have been written as if they were still teenagers, so to see the back and forth between the two along with the always over-the-top Jack Black, solid Karen Gillan and surprisingly fun Nick Jonas, adds a bit more longevity to the film once the story gets repetitive and stagnant.

As can be expected with a movie that’s literally inside of a video game, the one-note villain is pretty useless and the entire plot is just as thin as you would expect, for better or worse. There’s a handful of scenes that just seem out of place in a movie like this, ranging from a relatively funny gag about Bethany being in Jack Black’s overweight male body to a weirdly out of place dance fighting idea that just really didn’t work. The more the movie went on the more the cookie-cutter mentality of today’s big studios films is felt, so by the time we return to the real world all of the character development and moral lessons that are trying to be learned sort of end up feeling flat or just become plain eye-roll worthy. I didn’t expect there to be a whole lot of emotion or legitimate character development with a film like this, but after a first half that seemed to set up for a better ending for both the story and characters alike, I ended up feeling slightly underwhelmed.

The good news is that Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle won’t ruin or taint all those awesome memories you no doubt have from the original film, nor will it disappoint you entirely with this different take on the beloved franchise, but a great first half can’t make up for this film eventually becoming the movie I feared it would be: a loud, over-the-top modern action film that stretches its comedy and solid casting past the breaking point the more the film drags on. I won’t say that this movie never should have been made; I just wish that the overall feel of it stayed more in line with the first half of the movie, a feeling that somewhat mimicked more or less what the original Jumanji had in spades. You can’t go wrong with this one if you’re looking for some entertainment during this slow movie-going season, but you won’t be getting much else.