All fun and games

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Starring:  Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan

Director: Jake Kasdan

Genre: Action Adventure Comedy 

Rating: PG-13

RUNTIME: 119 Mins

Gone is the 1995 board game of wonder, summoning Robin Williams from its mysterious depths to save us from vicious crocodiles and venom flytraps. This is the world of Jumanji, complete with villains wielding evil jewels, Dwayne Johnson’s enormous biceps, and even dance-fighting. Welcome to the jungle, where we’ve got fun and games.

It’s difficult to say whether Jake Kasdan’s romp through the video game world of Jumanji is a remake, a reboot, or a sequel to the 1995 original. Where the latter excelled in combining a chaotic jungle adventure with the everyday problems of suburban children, the former updates its repertoire to more modern day concerns.

In the ‘real’ world, Spencer (Alex Wolff) is a typical nerd; Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain) is his once-upon-a-time best friend, now a jock who’s too cool for school; Bethany (Madison Iseman) is a smartphone-addicted popular girl with little regard for anyone but herself; and Martha (Morgan Turner) is socially anxious and bookish.

All of them have their own issues. They land in detention where they discover a video game called ‘Jumanji.’ It’s at this point you can hear all the people over 25 in the audience take a collective gasp.

Once sucked into the game, their chosen avatars replace them on screen. Spencer turns into Dr. Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), Fridge into Franklin ‘Mouse’ Finbar (Kevin Hart), Bethany into Professor Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black), and Martha into Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan).

The world of Jumanji has been corrupted by a familiar face, explorer Russel Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale), who with a jewel called the ‘Jaguar’s Eye’ has the power to control animals. To leave the game world, the team have to return the jewel to the jaguar statue. The catch? They each only have three lives, as well as strengths and weaknesses unique to each character.

What follows is essentially what you’d expect from an action adventure body-swap comedy. The film benefits from its highly talented comedic cast, in particular Black who steals the show embodying a teenage girl stuck in the body of an overweight middle-aged man. The only criticism of his portrayal is that we don’t see it pushed far enough.

That’s not to say the rest don’t hold their own. Johnson’s introduction has us chuckling as he feels his massively muscular body, in as much awe of himself as the rest of us regular mortals are of him.

Hart brings a goofy levity to the film, an overconfident jock who doesn’t realise he’s too big for his boots. His character is the source of much of the film’s broad slapstick humour, and he takes to the stereotype like a duck to water.

Gillan’s Ruby Roundhouse packs a mean punch to most of the video game’s enemies, and her awkwardness is as endearing as it is indicative of a badass just desperate to get out and kick something in the face.

Yet, the film is far from perfect. It suffers from many instances of predictable, almost cringe-worthy character stereotypes, but what saves it nearly every time is the performances by its star cast. All of them seem to really believe they’re teenagers, stuck in the wrong body but for the right reasons, and their earnestness breathes life into what was dangerously close to being an over-stuffed, claustrophobic mess. Kind of like a jungle.

For anyone who’s ever played a 90’s video game, Jumanji does a great job of making you believe you’re in one too. It’s complete with NPCs (non-playable characters), game lives, and old-school action sequences that come straight from the mind of veteran Kasdan, whose father was the screenwriter for Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back.

You never quite feel as though any of the fantastic four are in any real danger, but hey, it’s a magical world filled with jewels and rhinos. It’s nostalgic and charming.

This is definitely a Jumanji for the 21st century. It’s bold, it’s brave, and it invites you to be the same. Perhaps it is an unnecessary continuation of a movie that didn’t need another installment and lacks the creative nerve of its original, but it’s still fun and likable.

We can only hope there won’t be a version for PlayStation 4.

Now showing in: City Centre, Seef II, Saar, Wadi Al Sail, Dana Cinemas

Anna’s verdict: 3/5