Even though movies starring Robin Williams always stay with me, the original movie, Jumanji, did not. The original had a fresh concept but the special effects are poorly done and basically distracted me from the experience. It had some fun moments and the character portrayed by Williams was well done but the rest of the movie was not too much fun and the story was pretty much forgettable. So, I had low expectations going into this movie because of its name and that it is sort of a video-game sequel and video-game movies have not done well at all. I think studios need to look at both Wreck-It-Ralph and this movie to know how they can put a story and some very good characters together. If you want some family entertainment this holiday season, welcome to the jungle of fun as you are part of the video game experience.
Spencer Gilpin (Alex Wolff) is a nerd who helps his former best friend Anthony "Fridge" Johnson (Ser'Darius Blain) with an essay. Later, Spencer is called to the principal's office after it is found that Fridge was copying his essays. In spite of pleading, Spencer and Fridge are sent to detention. They are joined by both self-absorbed Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman), who was sent to detention for refusing to put the phone away during class and shy girl, Martha Kaply (Morgan Turner), refusing to join the other students in gym and insulting the teacher's profession.
They are ordered by the principal to clean the basement. As they do, they come upon the Jumanji video game and pop it in the cartridge. Spencer, Fridge, Bethany and Martha are sucked into the game. Spencer finds himself turned into Dr. Bravestone (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson"), a muscular archaeologist. Fridge arrives into the game as "Moose" (Kevin Hart), a short but expert zoologist. Martha becomes Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), who is titled the "killer of men". And, Bethany is now Dr. Shelley Oberon (Jack Black), a cartographer in which she mistook as a woman with curves and is shocked by her reflection. The objective of the game is to retrieve the jewel that Russell Van Pelt (Bobby Canavale) stole and save Jumanji and return to the world.
This movie is a whole lot of fun. It felt like two hours passed by quickly as you are immersed into this wild adventure, more reminiscent of a kids Indiana Jones adventure than a Jumanji game. The movie is full of humor and surprisingly touching moments that actually makes Sony Pictures look like a genius releasing this movie on Christmas weekend. Even though there is not much depth in this story, the balances shifts into the characters which are mostly developed compared to the 90s version.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is solid and now can be forgiven after a lousy Baywatch movie. It is redemption and his charm ability and nerd persona matches with the kid that was transformed to the person full of abs and pecs. Karen Gillan kicks butt but that's all what she does. There's not much to her character but her attire does match the old-school version of the game, which it is. Jack Black easily steals the game playing the selfish, narcissistic girl that is solely scared of her looks and how men do stuff. Kevin Hart is still funny but his character is the weakest because I felt like he was mostly playing another Kevin Hart character than a teenage boy. Bobby Canavale plays the one-dimensional villain that felt a bit over-the-top and that was distracting. The kids do also give a good performance.
This is a predictable but humorous, adventurous and entertaining movie made by director Jake Kasdan that both kids and adults enjoy because of the video-game effects and the old-school adventure. This is the biggest surprise of 2017 as I did not expect this movie to be good. If you want another family entertainment away that will surprise and delight you during the holidays, Sony Pictures will provide you a gift that you and your family will blast in once it is over.
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