Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

If you were to create a long list of "sequels that no one asked for and we don't need", one to Jumanji would most certainly be on the list. 

But yet, this is Hollywood so that's a list they like to tap from often, with varying results. 

Luckily though, this Jumanji sequel, subtitled Welcome to the Jungle, has a few tricks up its sleeve to make it more than just an obvious cash grab and the star power that it attracted (somehow) was significant enough to push it upwards in terms of quality. 

I'm a big fan of The Rock in general and will pretty much see anything he's in these days just out of support. I won't go into the whole realm of why I am, but I always encourage people to follow his Instagram because you'll learn quite a bit about him that makes it hard not to like/support him. 

Aside from him though, his good pal Kevin Hart is along for the ride, as well as Karen Gillian -- freshly stripped from all her blue and metal makeup in Guardians, and lastly Jack Black who is always a treat to have a long and in this particular film gets the meatiest comedic role and relishes in it. 

The "twist" of this film is really what makes it more than you may expect and, consequentially, that much funnier for gags, jokes, etc. Four teenagers, each with their own problems in terms of finding themselves enter detention where they find an old videogame system, enter the world of Jumanji, and become the game avatars they selected, having to beat the game in order to escape. This is all in the trailers so I wouldn't worry too much about that surprise being ruined but I will say that the whole "videogame" aspect of the film was a net benefit and led to some cool and/or funny scenes. 

I mean yeah...basically what I do every morning...Pshh

I'd pay to see an Indiana Jones
sequel with Jack Black

Outside of the twist, the all-star cast, and some comedic moments in the script however, Jumanji is a decidedly average film -- an odd circumstance of a film being totally ok with reaching the C+ grade and going forward with it. To me that's a huge bummer because I think there's a version of Welcome to the Jungle that could have quite possibly been the surprise film of the year but a plethora of sub par choices really force it to reside in that one-time view category for me. For starters, the action -- as cool as some of the concepts are (helicopter rotating 90 degrees to catch a person for example) are executed with little excitement or visual flair. Part of it could be I was tired when I saw this but I genuinely thought most of the action was horrendously boring. Motorcycles with rocket launchers attached to them or The Rock riding one with a flamethrower should be more exciting than just seeing it which is what I felt like the film did. Only during Karen Gillian's buttkicking scenes is there any type of visual flair or inventiveness to this action. And that sadly goes for the entirety of the film. There's not much technical skill on display here and the film is really just...well...filmed. There's not too many moments of awesome cinematography, the original score is almost useless, and the special effects are only ever fair. Take that for what you will. I know that not every film has to be a technical marvel, but in a sense this one feels like they spent all their brainpower (and money) on the concept and stars only to actually commit them to film in a lazy manner. 

But...luckily the film does have those aces up its sleeve and is all the better for it. I already spoke to the videogame twist adding some significant uniqueness to the whole idea, but it's really these stars that help make the film a blast. Everyone is clearly having a good time and it shows with the way they interact with each other and the eagerness with which they try to display these high-school characters through their bodies. Johnson probably gets the least amount of humor to work with here, but, as his character's name implies, Dr. Smolder Bravestone gets to...smolder. Kevin Hart splits comedic duties with Jack Black pretty evenly and brings many laughs, even if they're all related to his stature and size again. He and The Rock continue to have good chemistry and I see them working together a lot more in the future. Karen Gillian is the most balanced of the group getting the best action scenes and some great comedic bits, which she nails. But, at least for me, it's really Jack Black who stole the show (as he often does). He's the only teenager that swaps sexes when they transport into the game and the contrast between stuck-up high school girl and Jack Black's exterior leads to some genuinely funny moments. The film isn't moment to moment laughter and some jokes do fall pretty flat, but there's enough here from this cast that make it worthwhile as a comedy. 

People of all shapes and sizes are represented in this movie!
(And openly mocked for it)

I was strangely disappointed with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle even if I probably shouldn't be. At the end of the day it's a sequel that we didn't need, but ended up being far better than most useless sequels because of the creative team taking the time to make it unique. Much like a lot of what's in theaters right now, it's perfect family holiday fare (it's an incredibly soft PG-13) and it's worth it alone for the comedy and to see these stars romp around the jungle to have fun. I just wish the technical team would have showed some similar gusto when actually filming all of it.

CONS

• From a technical perspective, the film has very few moments of "Wow" which is a shame because the concept presents more than enough opportunities. Aside from the star power and the videogame pitch, this feels like a really average film
• Really boring action
• Some jokes fall flat
• Just okay special effects
• Doesn't have much re-watch value

PROS

• Great cast that's having a lot of fun. Each brings something special to this group
• Jack Black was my MVP having some of the best scenes in the entire movie
• Karen Gillian would be my "action" MVP for having basically the only action scenes with any sort of "umph" behind them
• Consistently funny throughout
• The concept is a smart one and the film takes advantage of some of gaming's biggest tropes. Some to move the story forward, some to crack jokes at
• A fun romp through the jungle with an awesome cast and a fun idea for a film

Rath's Review Score | 7/10