Review of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) by Rover A — 08 Apr 2018

Having seen the original and to be honest not really liking the 90's vibe and child centric shennanigans, (I was 13 at the time of release) my intrest in a sequel/reboot was non existant even if it had starred the late Robin Williams (loved his stand up, hated his films for the most part) I went into it expecting it to be a Rock centric movie with familiar faces (Hart, Gillian, Black) with predictable humour and obvious sight and character based gags, it was but...

I was very much suprised to find it was very enjoyable with great preformances by comedians I don't usually enjoy when doing their own material or when allowed to overpower the scripted work with their personalities (Hart, Black) Karen Gillian being a highlight as she held her own against 3 very overpowering personalities onscreen, even getting several moments and scenes that showcased her humorus persona.

Jumanji is a very stripped down simple adventure tale in the vein of the serials of old and a great example of how to make an entertaining product with very well thought out character play and bombastic action sequences that despite being obvious CGI didn't break immersion like the original did too much and left me hoping a sequel would come to fruition and retain the same vibe even with an entirely different cast, or using the same 'avatars' but different kids next time though I would like to see those four teens together again to continue their somewhat limited arcs, I thought the breakfast club setting of the 'real' world characters was well done and the teenage actors carried themselves very well despite the stereotypical roles given (jock, nerd, vapid teen and wallflower) and the transition to the 'avatars' and the adults portraying these kids reactions to their situation were hillarious.

The Rock continues to shine as he has found his niche and proves in this to have some pretty good acting chops and despite essentially being Dwanye 'The Rock' Johnson in everything, like Schwarzenegger he has developed his persona into something that is just fun to watch even if the film sucks.

Recommended viewing for family and friends alike with some genuinely funny moments and a simple easy to digest plot that 'does exactly what it says on the tin' a fun adventure romp that didn't dissapoint.