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

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. I'm surprised when the trailer came out that a lot of people weren't shouting "it ruined my childhood." I'm Genuinely surprised, I thought that people were going to hate this before it even came out. But for once people didn't do that, and there was a genuine interest in the film. People were wondering what new, modern direction the filmmakers were going to take Jumanji. People were actually giving it a chance for once and that's shocking! Cause the internet never does that!

This is a franchise I can say, for once, I saw the original source material (not the book, the movie). I love the original Jumanji from 1996. Great characters, great set up, great premise, great action. But if you wanna look at "board games in real life movie" from my generation, Zathura is where it's at. I saw the movie for my birthday when it first came out and man did that movie scared the pants off of me. But let's get back to Jumanji, I was looking forward to seeing this movie but also a little part of me was worried. Would this be a genuinely good movie or would it just be another nostalgia cash grab?

Well lucky I don't have to say this movie is a cheap cash grab. This movie is great fun and loved it.

The first thing we have to get out of the way is the tone the movie sets, cause this is what makes the film work. This movie has a light-hearted tone. There's an atmosphere of silliness, but it takes itself seriously just enough so it never becomes cheesy. And this is what allows the movie to get away with as much as it does. Nothing in the characters actions or the writing feels out of place.

If you watch the trailer it gives you the plot set up of the movie. 4 characters (2 boys, 2 girls) all start playing Jumanji: The Video Game. Then they get sucked into the game and become their avatars which are three males and one female.

The video game characters are played by Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black. The acting is what could have made or break this film, and it makes it. The four of them all play the teenagers that are sucked into the game but in avatar format. And I wish I could tell you more about it but I don't want to ruin the surprise. But I can say this: all the actors that play as the video game characters all have strong performances. They're believable and they never feel unnatural once. There's also a lot of humor that comes because of the roles the actors have to play.

Ultimately the movie boils down to four teenagers becoming more humble, confident, and to better themselves as friends and a team.

I really wanted to talk more about the movie and the especially the acting and characters. But I feel if I go in depth on them it will spoil some of the enjoyment of it. But this movie was great and defiantly wouldn't mind sending it again.

4/5 Stars.