RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE

This review was published in The West Australian dated Dec 26, 2017.

MOVIE
Jumanji
Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black
Review Ray Chan

The original Jumanji, which starred Robin Williams as a man trapped inside a jungle-themed board game, was mildly successful when it was released in 1995. Back then, it wasn't such a smash hit that it guaranteed a sequel, but now, more than 20 years later, it seems the concept has been deemed too good not to revisit.
    Strictly speaking, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle is not a follow-up adventure, but a sort of remake, substituting a 1990s-era video game for the board version.
    Geeky teenager Spencer Gilpin (Alex Woolf) is dispatched to detention by his high school principal for ghosting assignments for classmate and football star Anthony 'Fridge' Johnson (Ser'Darius Blain), who also gets benched.
    Joining them are Martha Kaply (Morgan Turner), an introvert who hates gym, and Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman), the prettiest girl in school who's obsessed with social media.
    The fun begins when Spencer finds and plugs in an old computer console containing a game called Jumanji, and the kids decide to play it.
    However, soon after they all pick their characters, they're sucked into a terrifying real jungle populated by dangerous animals and a maniacal villain.
    Spencer's avatar is Dr Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), a heroic, muscular, square-jawed archaeologist; the Fridge is Mouse Finbar (Kevin Hart), a smaller-framed zoologist; Martha is Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), a sexy commando; and Bethany is Professor Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black), a tubby middle-aged man.
    Ultimately, the story is a nice twist on the original Jumanji plot, where the game comes to the real world. In this movie, the protagonists take the opposite route.
    And it is within the game setting that the virtual reality idiosyncracies show up. After some of the players get killed and are resurrected almost immediately, they discover they each have three lives. They also need to find a legendary gem called the Jaguar's Eye, if they want to get out of the game at all.
    They meet up with a character named Alex, who has a nice tie-in with Williams' character from the original movie.
    While the premise is ludicrous, the chemistry between the characters, the wit and humour and the non-stop action scenes more than make up for it.
    Johnson shows he is equally at home with gags as he is with his usual action roles, while Gillan demonstrates impressive athleticism.
    Black always excels at comedy, and his role is no exception, but then he gets most of the best lines. The act of relieving herself as a man is a source of wonder for the former vain blonde princess, who can't believe she isn't Instagramming the procedure. She then concedes her senses have heightened without the use of any gadgetry.
    With rampaging rhinos, slithering snakes and gaping-jawed jaguars, it all makes for an amiable, jocular treasure hunt that is much better than might be expected.

#jumanji #jackblack