Review| Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

There is no originality in Hollywood. This has been a central complain about the movie industry experience in this young 21^st century. It seems as though every weekend someone’s childhood memories are being revamped and revised to appease the sensibilities of a modern audience. Or a box-office smash from the prior year is recycled and thrown onto the big-screen to bring in more dough. No doubt complaints such as this were levied at the latest attempt to revise a cult classic: Jumanji.

Nevertheless, we still show up in droves to witness, and to judge, the success of the latest reboot. This time around it comes with one of the most bankable stars around, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. What the original had in suspense and character, Jumanji : Welcome to the Jungle (WttJ) looked to match with action and comedy. Thankfully it matched the whit with enough character to be a pleasant late-year surprise.

A jock, a nerd, a beauty queen and a geek all walk into detention. As you might expect, detention never gets served. Curiosity gets the better of them and they end up literally pulled into the now video-game adopted version of Jumanj, straight into the jungle. I remember watching Jumanji as a kid and hearing Alan Parrish (Robin Williams) describe the jungle he had been stuck in for decades and being struck with curiosity about that place. What did the jungles of Jumanji look like? What animals were there? And why was Alan being hunted? While Jumanji never tried to answer such questions, WttJ dives right into the deep end and places the majority of the story in the jungle itself. This is one of the strengths of the film, and really makes it stand out from its predecessor. Rather than trying too hard to connect to the original – though, it does – or recreate specific scenes or themes from the original, it succeeds in truly revamping an existing idea and showing a whole new part of the world, complete with modern lifestyle adjustments.

While the ‘mind of it’s own’ nature of the board game is apparent in Jumanji, in WttJ it’s even more apparent that the game desires to be played. It changes form to become a video game and adapt to the times for this very reason. This will, if you will, of the game is set to parallel desires of American teenagers of today; the desire to be seen, to be important, to be somebody. This extends to how these teens allow others to treat or talk to them. The jock, Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain/Kevin Hart), goes along with the stereotype that he’s dumb even though he’s just overwhelmed trying to meet expectations. The nerd, Martha (Morgan Turner/Karen Gillan), settles completely into being overlooked and believes that others see her only as a brain and nothing else to offer. So much of the identity of our main cast is wrapped up in how other people see them.

In no character is this better developed than in the beauty queen, Bethany (Madison Iseman/Jack Black). Bethany is buried in her phone, ignoring almost every opportunity for face to face conversation in exchange for the praise and ‘likes’ from her social media crowd. Sound familiar? Getting sucked into Jumanji and losing her phone (and, weirdly, becoming Jack Black) was the best thing that could happen for her character and self-worth. She learns that she has value outside of just what she looks like, and when she begins to care for another character it serves to teach her how real human interactions are more rewarding and mutually beneficial than feedback from a screen. Every character is given at least a small moment to put a voice to concerns that teens face today, but in a measured and reasonable approach. None of the obstacles in their real lives seem like too much to overcome, but as they face the obstacles in the jungle and learn to rely on each other, they become more capable of dealing with the still difficult trials of a teenage life.

On top of lessons about self-worth and trusting in other is a very fun movie. The surroundings of the jungle and the predicament of falling into brand new bodies is milked for every comedic opportunity. Sometimes it overdoes it, but not usually. Jack Black is as funny as he’s been in years, and despite Kevin Hart not having a lot to do in this film, the duo of he and Dwayne Johnson is worth the price of admission. Billed as a family comedy, I would advise that be a family of young teens for a trip to the theater for this one. As you might expect, the shift for Bethany from a young lady to a middle-aged man is quite jarring and some penis jokes are (naturally) built around that which won’t be too appropriate for young children. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a fresh take on it’s source material, and by not trying to retread a worn-out path it presents itself as a worthwhile addition to the story so many of us fell in love with as kids in Jumanji.