As Hollywood keeps besieging us with sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots, "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" is actually a continuation from where "Jumanji" '95 leaves and this takes over. When Robin Williams played Alan Parrish in the original, the game left us at a place whereas the game could easily continue.
In a brand new Jumanji adventure, four high school kids discover an old video game console and are drawn, quite literally, into the game's jungle setting, literally becoming the adult avatars they chose, Spencer (Dwayne Johnson), Fridge (Kevin Hart), Bethany (Jack Black) and Martha (Karen Gillan). What they discover is that you don't just play Jumanji-- you must survive it. To beat the game and return to the real world, they'll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, discover what Alan Parrish left 20 years ago, and change the way they think about themselves-- or they'll be stuck in the game forever, to be played by others without break.
Others to round out the cast are Rhys Darby as Nigel, Bobby Cannavale as Van Pelt, Nick Jonas as Alex, Alex Wolff as Young Spencer, Ser'Darius Blain as Young Fridge, Madison Iseman as Young Bethany and Morgan Turner as Young Martha.
This was genuinely directed by Jake Kasdan ("Zero Effect" '98, "Orange County" '02, "Zero Effect" (TV Movie) '02, "The TV Set" '06, "Work Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" '07, "Spring/Fall" (TV movie) '11, "Bad Teacher" '11, and "Sex Tape" '14) plus tons of TV. I say genuinely because the direction was not only similar to that of its predecessor, but it was as fresh too. The rapid pacing and editing was also similar and seemed like it was form of a homage to the 1995 film. If you like his brand of directing, "Bad Teacher 2" has been announced. It was whimsically written by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner, based on a story by McKenna, which was based on the book "Jumanji" by Chris Van Allsburg. Usually, films written by more than two writers gets bogged down, but this is an exception. As with the 1995 film, this storyline was well thought out, concise, and cohesive as its predecessor. This screenplay has you hooked almost as soon as it starts considering the young versions of themselves are the school's punching bags. As these kids are drawn into the game, the film then simply moves and takes you on this wild ride. With all that's going on within script also comes amazing visual effects predominantly created by MPC (Moving Picture Company) and Rodeo FX. The visuals were designed in a way that were not so over-the-top to let the script speak for itself.
Certainly if you liked the 1995 version of "Jumanji", you will love this. Even though none of the original cast were used, the emphasis had to be on the story and script. Of course, this being a continuation, others typically depend on, at least, some of the cast reprising their roles, but this didn't need them. This was a completely fun, original film that has that Indians Jones type flair so the audience could leave this world and happily escape into another world.
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG 119mins.
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