Review: “Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle” Surprises Everyone

It’s a classic case of ‘judging the book by its cover’ for Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle and no one is really surprised by the reactions.

Credit: YouTube

This movie is a product of the wave of spin-offs, sequels and reboots sweeping through Hollywood and fans knew it was only a matter of time before it happened. Jumanji, however, is special for two primary reasons: Robin Williams the star of the original movie is deceased and the movie is a family cult classic.

For these reasons, the minute the trailer dropped, fans were ready to murder this movie but surprisingly, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle is a pleasant experience.

The movie tells the story of four teenagers who find a weird video game–Jumanji– while serving detention in High School. They turn on the game, choose avatars and get sucked into the world of the game. In the game, they become the avatars they picked and these avatars are played by Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillian.

The beauty of this movie lies in the gameplay theme which it explores extensively. The four actors are polar opposites of their characters in the real world and they portray this perfectly. Jack Black stands out, particularly because his character in the real world is a teenage diva.

The characters also have lives and can die repeatedly which is really cool. The best thing about this movie though is the in-game character. Avid game fans will be able to relate to how they tend to repeat sentences, especially when asked questions outside the scope of the game.

Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle is a great movie and would have been perfect save for its underwhelming villain. The villain in this movie is not memorable and this probably because the narrative focused on the heroes for the majority of the film. This is a huge contrast to the first Jumanji villain who was a scary and intimidating hunter.

Conclusively, this movie is still a fun watch that deserves to be seen by the whole family.