Jungle Cruise

There's a lot to love about Disney's Jungle Cruise on paper. 

For starters, you have another Disney theme park ride getting the full-blown movie treatment. For Pirates of the Caribbean (the bar that Jungle Cruise is obviously aiming for) that worked out pretty well more often than not and extremely well in terms of quality for most of the first trilogy. Interestingly, many critics weren't head over heels for any of those films either (they were [mostly] wrong). 

Then you have a winning pair with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, two performers who seem impossible for audiences to hate and who put butts in seats. 

Lastly, you have just the general "pull" of an old school adventure a la Indiana Jones.

I said "on paper" earlier because Jungle Cruise is somewhat of a disappointment when you write all that out. Full disclosure: I still enjoyed the film and had a good time, but this had the puzzle pieces to form together into a semi-classic. Instead, it ends up being a "good" film but not one that's going to have the impact of the films that clearly inspired it. 

What's certainly not at fault is the fantastic cast. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has always been likable and that maintains itself here. He's become a good enough actor where roles like this are something within his wheelhouse (probably too much so, if I'm being honest) and his charisma is on full display . Blunt, equally likable, is having a big year by circumstance of the COVID pandemic, carries the film as well as, if not better, than Johnson. Their chemistry together - as evidenced by the playful marketing campaigns - is a lot of fun and they're easily the best part of the film. Other members of the cast are delightful, including Jack Whitehall and Jesse Plemons (who's pronunciation of "jungle" earned some good laughs). Edgar Ramirez is kind of a non-factor (more on that later) while Paul Giamatti, while great, feels like a waste of money for the film given such a small role for a talented actor. All that to say, the cast really has no weak link and the film owes a lot to its two leads. 

Unfortunately, I felt like Jungle Cruise could have used a tighter script and plot. The 2hr-ish runtime feels quick due to some great pacing, but there's a jumbled focus on who's actually the villain here. There's essentially two groups: Plemons' German soldiers and Ramirez's cursed Conquistadors. The film seems to position the Conquistadors as the true villains, and they're visually stunning, but they're all but forgotten for a huge chunk of the back half of the film in favor of the Germans. I can't necessarily say who I'd preferred, but I do think focus to a single entity either way would have helped. And while Plemons gets to have fun with a zany German accent, Ramirez is entirely forgettable aside from the visuals, making them feel disposable and more like distractions. 

It's a kitty cat!

Hard not to at least like a film led by these two

Jungle Cruise also suffers from a common trait in many blockbusters these days (including many that come from Disney) of having too much CGI. Particularly in a jungle setting, this type of stuff is way more obvious than in something like a Marvel flick and animals, the boat, buildings, and characters more often than not are all computer generated. I understand that not everything could have been practical effects and most of it looks good/great (e.g. Proxima the leopard is impressive) but at a certain point it can begin to feel more like a videogame than a film and that steals some of the fun. Making the comparison to Pirates of the Caribbean that featured more practical effects complimented by some awesome CGI (Davy Jones FTW!), this makes Jungle Cruise feel a little more hollow and a little more generic.

Luckily, there's still quite an adventure within Jungle Cruise, wedged in between its somewhat unfocused narrative, two charismatic leads, and some generic CGI. The beginning in particular suggests something special, there's a handful of good, eye-roll humor and some genuine laughs, certain points can be thrilling, and I enjoyed the finale even if it did have a lot of the aforementioned CGI. Some inconsistent editing holds the action back from reaching the more memorable highs of Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Caribbean, plus it's generally just not all that creative, but at the end of it all, this is still an adventure in the jungle and that comes with some pre-loaded excitement. 

Jungle Cruise isn't necessarily a miss for Disney, but it is one that feels a bit lazy. It's almost like once they secured two of the bigger Hollywood stars they could find, they knew butts would be in seats regardless and everything else is just "good". In a lot of ways that's not surprising, but it is somewhat disappointing because with some more talent behind the screen (imagine this film with Steven Spielberg in the director chair!) we could have had something a lot more memorable. 

CONS

• Unfocused narrative when it comes to villains. It tries to split the difference between two groups and the cursed Conquistadors get the short end of the stick
• Too much CGI in a lot of settings that shouldn't be. Understandable in some situations but it begins to hurt the film
• Action isn't all that inventive and has some poor editing
• Probably could have pushed its PG-13 rating a bit more

PROS

• Blunt and Johnson are fantastic leads with good chemistry and charisma. The film would be lesser without them
• Remainder of cast that gets enough to do are all solid too. Plemons and Whitehall in particular
• Adventurous setting with some fun setpieces and an enjoyable finale
• Original score can be really fitting/fun at times
• Pockets of good humor throughout
• Fun, if not all that memorable adventure that owes a lot to the stars front and center

Rath's Review Score | 7/10