Title: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Age: 12A
Released: 20th December 2017
Director: Jake Kasdan
Genre: Action, Comedy, Romance
Rating: *** (3.5/5 stars)
About: Four high school kids discover an old video game console and are drawn into the game’s jungle setting, literally becoming the adult avatars they chose. What they discover is that you don’t just play Jumanji – you must survive it. To beat the game and return to the real world, they’ll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, discover what Alan Parrish left 20 years ago, and change the way they think about themselves – or they’ll be stuck in the game forever.
Review: I was a bit uncertain about the star rating to give for this film. On one hand, it was certainly a film filled with comedy (the kind where you laugh at loud, and not just sit still).
But I also realise that I’m maybe a bit too kind with my ratings, because most films seem to be on a 4 star rating when I watch them. Which is why this has a 3.5 rating, so I’m going to start being a bit more harsh (kinda — we’ll see).
So back to this film.
For starters the casting is good. You’ve got Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart. . . you get the idea. And they all work really well together. I particularly liked Jack Black realising that he is actually a fifteen/sixteen year old girl or the young girl realising that she is an middle aged fat man.
The transition of characters was very entertaining (Jack Black being my favourite example). But to continue, you have the nerdy geeky boy turning into The Rock. The big ‘bully’ turns into a short guy who can’t run fast (and basically can’t protect himself) and the shy girl who turns into this kiss-ass woman.
Is it trying to suggest that people get what they deserve? Probably not, I think it was just used more for humour.
I didn’t like the transition of the game from a box to a video game, but I get that they needed it to make the film and the film is good. It’s just that nothing will beat the original (child horror – because that film was scary) with Robin Williams (RIP).
The whole game like premise also helped this film, because it made it a little different and offered some amusement.
This film works because of its humour.
It manages to suck you in ( sorry for the pun!), so that you can waste an hour and a half of your life happily. You’ll enjoy yourself but the return of Jumanji seems to be aimed more at young people rather than nostalgic adults wanting to relive their childhood.
CastlesandTurrets 