The Christmas Season always sees a slew of new films hit the theater. This week was an odd week, with two films being released mid-week. Jumanji and The Greatest Showman were released today. Between the two, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle seemed more appealing. It offers a new take on a classic film. With stars like Jack Black and Kevin Hart in the cast, it promised to be very different from the original. And it was.
The original Jumanji was a board game. Board games just aren't as relevant as video games to today's teens. In order to remain relevant, Jumanji morphed into a video game in 1996. A teenager, Alex (Nick Jonas), finds the board game on the beach and brings it home. He sets it aside, because "no one plays board games anymore." He wakes up the following morning to find a game console with a game cartridge inside the box that once held the board game. He is immediately sucked into the game. Fast forward twenty years, and we have a group of teenagers sent to detention. As their punishment, they are relegated to the basement, where they are assigned the task of removing staples from thousands of magazines headed to recycling.
Spencer (Alex Wolff) is a nerdy gamer who is allergic to everything. Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain) was friends with Spencer when they were younger, but now his life revolves around football. He uses Spencer to do his homework so he can pass one of his classes. Otherwise, he might get kicked off the team. Martha (Morgan Turner) is a nerdy girl who fears rejection. Bethany (Madison Iseman) is a pretty girl, obsessed with her phone and her "issues." While serving detention together, they discover Jumanji, the video game. They are sucked into the game as the characters they have chosen.
Spencer becomes a fearless, strong professor (Dwayne Johnson), Fridge becomes the short sidekick (Kevin Hart), Bethany becomes a male cartographer (Jack Black) and Martha becomes Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), a bad ass in a midriff shirt. The quartet have three lives to finish the game. They must combine their "game skills" to solve a series of progressively harder levels to win the game. Lose in the game, "game over" in real life. Win in the game, and they can return home. However, they must outsmart the conniving Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale) who is consumed by his lust for a magic stone that they are attempting to replace in the eye of a jaguar mountain. By solving riddles and rhymes, they learn to use their special skills to help each other finish the game.
I want to call Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle a dark comedy. That is not really an accurate term. But it is both darker and funnier than the original. Chris McKenna and several other writers worked together to develop a script that was a bit predictable, but often hilarious. When you get talent like Jack Black and Kevin Hart together, you are bound to have some funny moments. And Dwayne Johnson is a great straight man. His subtle humor makes him great. The chemistry he had with Hart in CIA continues in this film. It seemed as if the script were written with those two actors in mind for the parts they played. And I can't imagine any dude could have played a teenage girl better than Jack Black. He nailed it. The combination of characters and situation created opportunities for some fun with the writing. The film doesn't take itself too seriously. Which works. Comedies that rely on gags and situational humor often run the risk of being complete flops. This film deftly avoids that trap.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has a bit of adult humor. Imagine a female teenager who has to pee, and has to use a new device for the first time. The humor and some language earned this film a PG-13 rating from the MPAA. Nothing serious to contend with. Mostly just sophomoric humor. The film is a hair under two hours at 119 minutes. This film had a huge budget at 90 million dollars, which appeared to be spent on the visual aspects of the film. The CGI was well done, but this film has some pretty intense action sequences as well. And the action was well done. No shortcuts there. It was large and fun to watch on the big screen. The pricetag seems steep for a comedy, but it appeared to be well spent. And I am sure the studio will get that money back.
I thought Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was well done. It is part comedy, part action movie. The CGI gave the film a slick look with some really nice action sequences. Ruby Roundhouse was particularly bad ass. The film was predictable and the humor a bit silly at times, but I laughed a lot. Comedies are not my favorite genre. I would much rather enjoy a thriller/suspense film. Probably because comedies so often disappoint me. This one did not. And the action is worth seeing on the big screen, although maybe just at the matinee price. The film is solid fun, but nothing worth raving about. 7.5/10.
