With an acting lineup starring Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black, “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” was bound to be entertaining, and thanks to director Jake Kasdan, it was more than just that.
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” was released on Dec. 20 and generated $36 million within the first week according to Box Office Mojo. It has received a score of 7.2/10 on IMBDÂ and a 76 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
This movie was a sequel to the 1995 “Jumanji” but wasn’t a continuation of the original film. Instead, it follows its own plotline and begins with four high school students that are sucked into a video game and are then forced to solve the game in order to be restored to their real bodies.
Although the film didn’t have the most complex storyline, it was very entertaining to watch.
The starting characters consist of Spencer Gilbin, played by Alex Wolff, a high-achieving social outcast as well as Anthony “Fridge” Johnson, played by Ser’Darius Blain, a failing football player in need of academic help. These two establish a relationship that allows the viewer to empathize with Spencer as his peers treat him poorly and use him for his intelligence.
They are joined by Bethany Walker, played by Madison Iseman, the “popular” kid at school with little ambition and a large confidence along with Martha Kaply, played by Morgan Turner, another outcast with a strong personality.
Together all four make an unlikely group tasked with working together in a simulated, yet dangerous world.
Although these four actors aren’t the standout and well-known actors that follow them up in the film, they do a good job of setting the rest of the movie up and play their roles well.
Once they enter the video game, the characters take on new personas, with Spencer changing to Dr. Smolder, the reverse of Spencer in real life, an extremely muscular archaeologist and leader of the group, played beautifully and humorously by Dwayne Johnson.
Anthony changes into Franklin “Moose” Finbar, also an opposite of his real-life character, a short and unathletic zoologist. This role is played by the hilarious Kevin Hart who adds even more humor to the movie and keeps the watchers laughing throughout.
Bethany turns into Dr. Shelly Oberon, a cartographer and horror to Bethany as he is the opposite of what she expected, as he is both a man and not as good looking as she was. This role is played by Jack Black, yet another funny character that adds spice to the overall theme of the movie.
Lastly, the originally awkward Martha becomes Ruby Roundhouse, the “killer of men.” She is played by Karen Gillan who creates a still awkward but also courageous character to the mix.
These actors all compliment each other nicely, as their off-set relationships allow them to perform even better with one another and make their relationships in the movie seem genuine. The constant jokes and witty dialogue of the film allows their characters to have humorous digressions while also keeping the movie on track.
The four are later accompanied by Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough played by Nick Jonas, which adds a whole new aspect of tension to the game with realizations of his life both inside and outside of the game.
They complete various tasks and meanwhile test their relationships, which create many interesting and funny scenes that will leave any watcher fully engaged.
Overall, the movie contains all aspects of a simple and basic movie that is completely entertaining and intriguing. However, if you are looking for a movie with a twisty and complicated plot as well as symbolism, this isn’t the movie to watch. This movie is purely meant to entertain and does a brilliant job of accomplishing just that.
KStratz • Jan 22, 2018 at 8:35 pm
Noice job sheep