We went to see the latest Dwayne Johnson expanded jungleverse movie last night, and it was as fun and silly as we could have expected. Here is my very, very brief review.
The classic characters, and some new faces and performances that will surprise you.
As a sequel-of-a-reboot, of course, this movie was facing a challenge in terms of … well, in terms of not being crap. And while it may have fallen slightly short of the “original” (ie. the reboot), it was a very decent classic sequel. And it was not crap.
It was no Deadpool 2, Terminator 2, or Hellboy 2, but it was a solid … I don’t know, Gremlins 2? Back to the Future 2? Last Jedi?
What’s that? These comparisons depend on how much you like all those movies I just listed and so the whole thing is useless as a basis for comparison?
ARE WE GETTING THE POINT OF FILM REVIEWS YET?
Okay, so anyway, this was a fun movie. It delivered what it promised, it threw some good opportunities for acting and some good character work into the mix, it was well written, and it played a bit with the concept of the game coming to life (and being more than a little busted). There were some fun tropes in there, and oh boy, did they nail the Old Coots Coming To Terms With Video Games thing. Absolutely crucified it.
Johnson wasn’t quite as flawless at this role than he has been at others (to be fair he was shown up more than a little by Awkwafina in this one), but he was still solid gold.
If you’ve seen the trailers you may have been somewhat spoiled on one of the main plot changes from the first movie, but also misled somewhat as to the nature of the story you’re about to see. There are some unexpected twists and turns that did not disappoint. They kept it fresh without adding too much infuriating bullplop.
Jack Black is consistently underrated. Not on this blog, sir.
An enjoyable evening out, not exactly a masterpiece of the cínémá but then it doesn’t at any point pretend to be. If you can see it with a giggling, karate-chopping, line-repeating, chair-bouncing nine-year-old, I recommend that as a solid augmentation.
I give Jumanji: The Next Level a JUUMAANJIII out of a possible JUUUMAAANNJIIIIII.
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I quite enjoyed the reboot, so I’m glad this one turned out all-right 🙂
Agreed! The original is a classic, but these reboots definitely did it justice and did not disappoint.
I need to check out the original. But there’s just so many things to see…
Awkwafina was a joy even on the second time around.
She gorram nailed it. And I was confident we’d enjoy the movie when you paid cash money to see it a second time. I was fairly sure when you said it was alright, but that was when I was certain.
Oh yeah, if it really had stunk I’d have just sat this one out. I was actually surprised how well it played even the second time. I think it says a lot about how strong these characters and actors are, they’re just a pleasure to hang out with.
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