Exactly who was clamoring for a Jumanji sequel? Answer: NO ONE!! The original is known as a Robin Williams (RIP) vehicle and one of the first great special effects films. But maybe removing the previous film’s two biggest assets gave director Jake Kasdan a blank slate that he wanted. Enter a fearsome foursome of comedy and a spin on the original’s premise, and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle not only isn’t bad, but in fact is just a really fun popcorn movie amidst serious Oscar contenders.
The plot here is simple: nerd Spencer (Alex Wolff), jock Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain), mean girl Bethany (Madison Iseman), and smart girl Martha (Morgan Turner) all get detention. The Jumanji board game has now evolved into a 90’s cartridge game, which Spencer plugs in and gets the 4 to play. They then get sucked into the game, with Spencer turning into Dwayne Johnson, Fridge turning into Kevin Hart, Martha turning into Karen Gillan, and in the most inspired gag, Bethany becoming Jack Black. The group then has to reach the end of the game without losing their 3 lives or be lost forever.
So from what we’ve learned about video game adaptations over the past few years, Jumanji chooses the correct formula to make the adaptation respectable. Video game adaptations that copy existing stories (Mortal Kombat, Assassin’s Creed, Warcraft) tend to be terrible compared to the game itself. When loosely basing your story on rules of a video game (Scott Pilgrim), the story gets the energy of the game without being beholden to fan service or dumb storytelling. Jumanji chooses to use the rules of a 90’s cartridge video game. As such, there are some killer running gags, like how only one character can read a map or know animals, strengths/weaknesses of each character, and how certain talking heads in the game only respond to certain characters. Also, the stakes are immediately simple to understand: lose 3 lives and you’re lost forever. Jumanji very quickly sets the rules and stakes and most importantly, doesn’t break them to solve a plot problem like other lesser movies might have.
Also helping is this movie is f’ing FUNNY. The 4 video game actors are all just stellar. Dwayne Johnson continues to prove just how good of an actor he is; Johnson excels at playing with his persona like using smoldering looks and playing a weak guy trapped in a hulking man’s body. There’s a scene where Johnson is trying to tell a girl he likes her, but he’s doing it like a 13 year old boy: I nearly started crying I was laughing so hard. Hart is doing his Hart thing: he’s great at being exasperated and critical of others. His chemistry with Johnson is dynamite for jokes (only so-so for drama, but that might be script problems) and is the foundation on which Jumanji is built. Karen Gillan is known to me as a really good serious actor, but I was unprepared for how funny she is! Gillan’s seduction of 2 bad guys as an awkward teen girl is some great physical humor, punctuated by the unblinking stare Gillan can generate. And finally, Jack Black must’ve read this script and accepted immediately. I hesitate to learn the research Black did to play a teenage girl, but every joke involving him ends in laughter. He’s SO good at it that he even finds some decent emotional beats for Bethany that lead to an almost poignant moment at the end for her.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is one of the pro arguments in the resurrection of old brands moviemaking we have today. It takes the bare bones premise and puts new people into it, with some small references for fans of the original to enjoy. I hope Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, and Jack Black can team up for more stuff again soon. Is there a Clueless remake maybe, knowing Black could easily play the Alicia Silverstone part?