Review of Jumanji (1995) by Laura C — 29 Oct 2012

The movie is about a little boy who finds a board game called Jamanji. Strange drum beats and a noise are heard until he finds and opens the game and starts to play it. Have you ever been playing a game and felt like you were really one of the players in real life? Wait till you see this game. The little boy Alan Parrish playedby Robin Williams and his friend Sarah Whittle played by Bonnie Hunt, begin to play the game. They roll the dice and read whatever their game piece lands on. The problem is whatever they read comes to life.Alan gets stuck in the jungle. In the jungle you must wait until the dice read 5 or 8. A missing boy, a girl who swears he disappeared in a game while she was being chased by bats causes the game to be locked away so no one else can ever play it.

26 years later,a brother and sister,Peter played by Bradley Pierce and Judy played by Kirsten Dunst, find the game and begin to play.

The game seeks out people who are sad and unhappy and want to leave their current world behind and start a new life.

The graphics are amazing. We get to see the characters interact with all different kinds of animals, insects, reptiles and acts of Mother Nature. Everything appears to be believable and very realistic. There are also funny parts with a policeman and an Aunt who is looking for all the children.

I would love to play this game because it would be a great adventure. My favorite scene was the animal stampede because the animals look so real and cool. When Peter becomes a monkey and remains that way it is very entertaining. Crazy monkeys cause trouble and try to slow down the game.

Some of the movie is frightening with spiders, mosquitos, crocodiles, lions and a giant plant that eats people begin taking over a small town. Everything is larger than real life.

I did not like Jonathan Hyde because he played Van Pelt a crazy hunter chasing everyone and everything with a gun. His main goal is to scare Alan Parish. I guess he did a good job because he scared me.

Be sure to watch the added features including a game to test your movie knowledge, a section that explains the creatures and what they are really like and another one that teaches you magic tricks.

I love this movie and recommend this for ages 6 and up.

This movie gets 5 ***** twinkling stars because it is original and each time you watch it you catch something new and realize all the work that went into making this great movie. Reviewed by Morgan Bertsch, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 7.