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The board game Jumanji is having a problem in its internal alternate universe. It needs help from our universe to solve its problem. So it arranges for a human to find it buried under the sands of a beach through those infernal drums.
But in the year 1994, kids don't play board games. When Jumanji realizes that...it makes some changes.
Take "Jumanji" and subtract Robin Williams.
Take "The Breakfast Club" and subtract the cool theme song.
Add a bit of "Congo"
The plot is rather predictable--it's limited to a "game play" sequence, after all, and we've seen characters sucked into a game before.
But the good thing about this movie is how well Jack Black, Karen Gilliam, Dwayne Johnson, and Kevin Hart act together. They are a wonderful comedic quartet.
Jack Black is a special hoot as a young, self-absorbed girl in a fat, middle-aged man's body. Black plays it just right--not over the top, but he makes you believe he's really a girl. Even the male-on-male flirtation (when the girl forgets she's in a man's body) the audience goes gleefully along with it. And the inevitable penis jokes (which are normally the lowest form of humor) even play out naturally.
Johnson and Gilliam also do admirable jobs as "dude playing a dude acting like another dude." The weak link is Kevin Hart, who merely plays Kevin Hart instead of the subdued character he's supposed to be.
There are a few clever writing moments, such as the way game characters are limited to behaving like game characters, and the way having multiple--but limited--lives can be used strategically.
But the real pleasure of eating your way through a family-sized bucket of popcorn with this movie is the interaction of the four main characters. Like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, just through them in a movie together--don't worry about the story.
Saw this today. Really good. In fact, this is a FAAAR better movie than THE LAST JEDI. Even Kevin Hart is great in it, as is Jack Black, both of whom can sometimes be obnoxious. But the cast is really what sells his movie.
Save STAR WARS for when it airs on TBS in a year or two. Go see JUMANJI instead.
Saw this today. Really good. In fact, this is a FAAAR better movie than THE LAST JEDI. Even Kevin Hart is great in it, as is Jack Black, both of whom can sometimes be obnoxious. But the cast is really what sells his movie.
Save STAR WARS for when it airs on TBS in a year or two. Go see JUMANJI instead.
The quirky thing about Jumanji is that it's hard to tell where the bad parts aren't deliberate because it's a mid-90s video game.
To be sure, the "frame" of the movie--the portions of the young students--are uninteresting. Nothing special there. But, heck, even that could be deliberate. Even Lewis Carroll pulled that trick.
Reminds me of Journey to the center of the Earth, that also starred Dwayne. Loved that film as it was a fun adventure. This looks similar. Will wait for cable though.
We saw it today (family of 4 with 2 teenagers). We all loved it, much better than expected. It was very funny (Jack Black was a riot). Highly recommended.
Is anyone else surprised Jumanji 2 is doing really well at the Box-office?
I haven't seen it yet ,but I'm surprised it's doing really well at Box-office 185 million in u.s so far in just 2 weeks is really impressive. I don't know if I will like the movie or not ,but now I'm interested in seeing this movie.
Plus the critics seem enjoy it as well I honestly didn't expect it to do so well especially with star wars playing only a week before.
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