Review of Jumanji (1995) by Chris W — 11 Jan 2012

The is the story of a bunch of people caught up in a wild and frenetic game of life or death after they start messing around with a board game that literally brings a fantastic jungle world to life, with nothing but chaos and mayhem ensuing.

Oh sure, there are attempts at trying to throw in serious issues like family and that sort of thing, but let's be honest, this film is primarily a showcase for the special effects and the spectacle of seeing wild beasts run amok all over a New England town. The cast has notables like Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, Kirsten Dunst, and Jonathan Hyde in it, and, while they give it their best, they don't quite succeed in holding it all together. To his credit though, Hyde is probably the most fun to watch.

This isn't a terrible movie, but even as a kid, I never thought of it as being better than "okay". The film cares more about the effects and action than anything else, and that would be okay if they didn't also try to throw in other stuff. Basically, this is just unbalanced, unfocused, predictable, and kinda silly. If you want to see it, I won't stop you, but don't feel like you need to see it.