Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle

When you have Jack Black and Kevin Hart portraying 2 important characters in a story about a four member gang, the fun factor will be definitely there. Jumanji: Welcome to the jungle is that package. It has hilarious moments powered by the performance of its actors and you don’t tend to be that bothered about the overall predictability of the movie. With many video game quirks adding that irreverent fun to its credit, this one is that enjoyable popcorn entertainer.

Four high school students Spencer, Bethany, Fridge and Martha are sent to detention at the same point for various things they did. At the place where they were assigned to do a cleanup job, Spencer finds an Old video game cartridge and when he turns it on, they all got sucked into the game named Jumanji where they all have this collective mission of saving Jumanji by retrieving a lost stone. How they do that and how they escape from the game is what the film all about.

Don’t yell at me saying that I revealed the whole film. Even the makers were so sure that the plot has no surprises and they revealed the entire story in the trailers. It is a movie that has been made for that popcorn entertainment kind of instant fun. From the typical high school crush to the life saving CPR, almost all the cinematic clichés are there here. But what makes it appealing is the way the Jumanji game unfolds. We have guest characters in the movie repeating the same line and for those of you have played such games would know the fun side of that. And along with that Jack Black playing the pampered arrogant Bethany and Kevin Hart who yells at Dwayne Johnson saying he has lost two feet of his body in the transition provides some outrageously hilarious moments.

It seems like director Jake Kasdan knows that he has very little here to play with. And in that aspect this is a well made film as they have managed to make it interesting even though there are zero surprises coming your way. From Jack Black and Kevin Hart yelling at Karen Gillan for her attempts to be a seducing hot girl, there are sequences in the movie that has quirky dialogues which will make you laugh. Cinematography gives that epic game like feel to the film and the edits are fast and tidy.

Dwayne Johnson has managed to have a screen space and impact in a comedy even after having two superstars of the genre along with him and that itself is a great achievement. Kevin Hart in his typical style carries the humor nicely and Jack Black with that feminine touch to his portrayal was also fabulous. Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse was also fun to watch.

Jumanji is not so appealing as an adventure film. But the tweaks they have made to make it look more relatable to the new age audience and of course the performances make it an enjoyable one time watch.

Rating: 3/5