Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

I took one look at the trailer and was certain it would be rubbish

Finally watched it on TV and was surprised that it's good solid family entertainment.

Not outstanding but a respectable 7 stars.

Four high school students serving after school detention discover an old cartridge video game in the school's storage area. It's called "Jumanji" and when they play it, the game sucks them into its world, where they each inhabit a different character: nerdy Spencer becomes Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), a musclebound action hero; football jock Fridge becomes diminutive sidekick Mouse (Kevin Hart); vacuous pretty girl Bethany becomes chubby middle-aged male scientist Prof. Oberon (Jack Black); and academically-driven Martha becomes Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan) a sexy martial artist. The quartet learn that they have to complete the game to return to the real world and their real bodies, but they each only have 3 lives in the game; die 3 times in the game, and they die for real.

I saw the original Jumanji movie back in 1995 and liked it a great deal and I was therefore dreading how a reboot would taint the memory of the original. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The dichotomy of the characters in their real lives versus their in-game personas is funny and well exploited, and the conventions of video game storytelling and set-up are also lampooned with some wit. Johnson, Hart and Black are all performers who can be over the top, but the material calls for it here, and they all exceed, as does Gillan, especially during her hilariously awkward "seduction" scene. Even if some of the animal peril is blatantly more CGI cartoonery, it also fits with the videogame milieu. This strictly popcorn fare, but it isn't brainless, although it's a bit predictable. Still, it was much better than expected.

The steady and impressive box office success is well-deserved. This movie is pure fun! Actually, it's more than fun; it's clever and perfectly 2018.

No one plays board games anymore, so what did the filmmakers do? They changed Jumanji into a video game. Simple, yet smart. This change not only made sense, it also opened the doors for the characters to possess and exhibit wildly over-the-top skills and physical abilities that would only make sense in a video game setting.

Also perfectly 2018, the handling of Karen Gillan's short shorts. The film earnestly attempts to comment on how video games exploit female characters in blatantly sexual ways. "Why am I wearing short shorts in the jungle?!" she exclaims. This scene is well done and could have made a worthy statement if the movie did not proceed to display her booty in the short shorts at multiple junctures throughout the film. The intentions were good; the execution, not so much.

Gillan plays a powerful female badass exceptionally well. She even nails the necessary nuances required in playing a shy, unconfident student who is merely inhabiting the avatar of the female badass. Each star in the movie plays the embodiment of an avatar assumed by the high school kids after they are sucked into the Jumanji video game. I understand that the last sentence sounds ridiculous. That's Jumanji. You have to tolerate a bit of ridiculous. Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black all deliver in their roles. Hart is hilarious. Black reminds us that he is still funny. Jack Black should be in more funny movies. Johnson is equal parts funny and charming to such an obscene level that it almost doesn't make sense. He's at the point now that he can still be wonderful and charming, even if the movie around him falls woefully flat (shout out to Baywatch).

Setting much of the film in a video game also excused an exceedingly simple plot. The movie embraces this. With all the funny lines, the best one comes when at one point someone asks a video game character in a car "why can't you just drive us where we need to go?" At that moment I realized that this movie knows exactly what it is.

Still, the movie is not perfect. Bobby Canavale's villain character is strange in a strange way, rather than strange in a cool way. The dialogue has its flaws too. At one point, Jack Black's character gives a pep talk to Karen Gillan's character about confidence. At first, it seems like a lovely speech that tells a teenage girl that she has value because of who she is as a person. Then it abruptly ends with "I'm just saying you're a babe." Oh, so physical attractiveness is what gives her value? Ugh. Once again, they were so close to delivering a worthwhile message, but fell just short.

These faults are only slight hiccups. Most viewers probably will barely notice them. They certainly didn't ruin my enjoyment of the movie. Above all else, the movie is about fun. And on that aspect, it comes through with flying colors.

Reboots can be tricky. While some click, most of them crumble under the pressure to shake off the barrage of comparisons that would be thrown at the movie. Last couple of years saw such horrible reboots like Jurassic World, The Mummy, Kong: Skull Island. But much like Spiderman: Homecoming, Jumanji succeeds to impress the viewers. Jumanji gets a modern age makeover where now instead of a board game it is a video game. Four teenagers with varying personalities are put together in a detention. Here they discover the Jumanji video game and enter the world of Jumanji as their avatars. Then starts the fun ride. There are enough plot holes like how did the video game end up in a high school from Alex's freak house. The movie uses time tested cliche - Four teenagers with some flaw realize their shortcomings when (literally) seen from some other's point of view. But the fun parts of the movie makes us forget them, at least till the movie ends.

The movie does not take itself seriously, and that is a huge plus point. The plot of the movie is crazy, there are man eating albino (what?!) rhinos on one side and villainous henchmen with crazy mud racing bike skills on the other side. But such craziness has been ridiculed in the movie itself, which makes you fall in love with it more.

The bigger plus for the movie has been the performance of the lead actors. All of them have created niche for themselves in the film industry. Jumanji has used such niche beautifully and built very funny characters. Parts where Dwayne Johnson(Spencer) stops to admire his own physique will have you in splits. Not to mention his hilarious display of 'smoldering intensity'. Kevin Hart is Kevin Hart and Jack Blake as a women in a man's body is perfect. Karen Gillan, who is this mean Nebula in MCU, comes up with a very charming performance.

All in all, Jumanji is a movie that you can watch without any regret. It will make you gasp, wonder and laugh hysterically. It is definitely worth a watch.

I will admit from the outset I was concerned about this. The original Jumanji is pretty incredible and I was worried that the use of The Rock may distract from the clever elements of the film. To The Rock's credit it doesn't. You clearly notice him in it but he doesn't overpower the film.

The sidekicks are a big part of the success here, it allows for more depth and humour to be spread across the film.

The should be proud of the effort here in building a new legacy and not diminishing the original.

Fun for all :)