Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

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  TheMovieDiorama

  6 / 10

  Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle plays out like a classic video game, very linear with the occasional glitch. If someone said to me "Luke, there's a Jumanji sequel coming out..." I would've laughed and shouted "Objection!". Yet, here we are and guess what? It doesn't suck! The same concept as the original but substituting the board game with a retro video game from 1996. Four students are magically transported into the game where they must place a jewel at the head of a jaguar mountain in order to save Jumanji. Fortunately the creators didn't rehash the exact same idea, instead they implemented a modern twist to it. That is the sequel's strength, deconstructing how video games function. Back in my youth when I aspired to be a video game developer, I self-taught all the elements into making a game. NPCs, avatars, levels, respawning etc. so their inclusion in this felt like a little nod to me which brought a gleeful smile to my face. This re-imagination focussed on comedy and action, the fantasy traits from the original have been put to one side. Whilst the comedy is hit and miss (mostly miss) and the action is plagued with CGI...I was still entertained. Jack Black was the standout as he portrays a girl in a middle aged man's body, had me laugh quite a few times. Dwayne Johnson was likeable as ever, but then again so were everyone else. The differing character archetypes and the "you can be whoever you want to be" moral felt extremely forced and all too familiar. Include the plot linearity, pointless antagonist and lack of pop songs (honestly, would've been more appropriate than an original musical score) and you have yourself a good film. Not great, but highly watchable. Maybe that is just what audiences needed, to which I cannot complain. A pleasant surprise is how I would describe this. Was just waiting for Guns N' Roses to play...waited patiently...the film was ending in its incredibly cringeworthy eye rolling way...and...YES! Credits song! Luke was happy.

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