Review of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) by Chris D — 12 Jan 2018

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a fun family adventure film that is certainly an improvement on its predecessor. The actors are honestly all pitch perfect. The chemistry between The Rock and Kevin Hart is hilarious and they always put at least a smile on your face when they share the screen. Karen Gillan has her moments as well, though her scenes, to me, seemed to be more action based than comedy based. There was one scene, though, where she has to distract two guards by flirting with them so the others can procure a vehicle and fails in truly comedic fashion. Jack Black is the comedy star of this movie, delivering a hilariously perfect performance of a self-absorbed teenage girl. Laughter is guaranteed with him.

As far as plot goes, this is a standard adventure film and you can guess where it's going to go and what's going to happen, but I don't care about that. The actors are all so charming that I don't care that you can see the twists coming a mile away or that some of the plot elements have been recycled from the Robin Williams Jumanji. The only real complaint I have is that I think they villain is rather weak. He could have been more menacing and far more dangerous. Why didn't they have an epic final boss battle with him as the boss? Oh well, it's still a solid film that's well directed, well acted, and has enough good jokes to keep it afloat. Over all, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle may not challenge viewers, but it's still good, relatively family-friendly escape fare.

Star Count: 4/5.