Entertaining adventure/fantasy with a little welcome depth
Four high school teens in Atlanta – a nerd (Alex Wolff), a muscular football player (Ser'Darius Blain), a shallow “hot blonde” (Madison Iseman) and a brainy, demure redhead (Morgan Turner) – get sucked into a video game and find themselves as avatars – a brawny explorer (Dwayne Johnson), his diminutive zoological sidekick (Kevin Hart), a cartologist / palaeontologist (Jack Black) and a martial arts babe (Karen Gillan). Can they get back alive?
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” (2017) is the third film in the current four-film franchise if you include “Zathura: A Space Adventure” (2005). It was a surprise hit at the box office and produced an immediate sequel in 2019.
While I give the edge to the original 1995 movie, this one delivers the goods for an entertaining family-friendly adventure/fantasy with a good message. The nonsense in the jungle is amusing & thrilling without overstaying its welcome. What really makes the film work is that it effectively establishes the four characters and their situations in the first act and wraps up with showing how they’ve grown as a result of their otherworldly adventure.
Dwayne Johnson is always great for the lead in these kinds of flicks and Hart & Black offer comical support. Karen Gillan is cute and athletic, but needs to gain some weight IMHO. Meanwhile Madison Iseman (Bethany) has alluring eyes, but Morgan Turner (Martha) actually outshines her. The exceptional title song plays during the credits.
The movie runs 1 hour, 59 minutes, and was shot in Atlanta, Georgia (neighborhood scenes) and Hawaii with loads of CGI backdrops.
GRADE: B