1916. This story is the adventure of a lifetime--a rollicking thrill-ride down the Amazon with wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) and intrepid researcher Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt). Lily and her brother MacGregor Houghton (Jack Whitehall) travel from London, England to the Amazon jungle and enlist Frank's questionable services to guide them downriver on La Quila--his ramshackle but charming boat. Lily is determined to uncover an ancient tree with unparalleled healing abilities--possessing the power to change the future of medicine. Thrust on this epic quest together, they encounter innumerable dangers such as a German officer named Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemons) and supernatural forces. These forces all lurk in the deceptive beauty of the lush rainforest, but as the secrets of the lost tree unfold, the stakes reach even higher for Lily and Frank and their fate--and mankind's--hangs in the balance.
Others to round out the cast are Edgar Ramirez as Aguirre, Paul Giamatti as Nilo, Veronica Falcon as Trader Sam, Dani Rovira as Sancho, Quim Gutierrez as Melchor, Dan Dargan Carter as Gonzalo, Andy Nyman as Sir James Hobbs-Coddington, Raphael Alejandro as Zaqueu, Simone Lockhart as Anna and Pedro Lopez as Chief.
This was adventurously directed by Jaume Collet-Serra ("House of Wax" '05, "Goal II: Living the Dream" '07, "Orphan" '09, "Unknown" '11, "Non-Stop" '14, "Run All Night" '15, "The Shallows" '16, "The Commuter" '18) plus TV, a video short and a video game. Most directors typically stay within the confines of their comfort zone and this filmmaker is no different, however this film seems to tread slightly different waters for this veteran pro. Usually he delves into horror or drama or even films with a message, but this film is total escapism and fantastical where he doesn't normally shine. But he was certainly able to showcase his actors emitting just the right amount of emotion with pathos, fear and showing, at times, a comedic side. If you like his brand of directing, his "Black Adam" is in post production for a 2022 release. It was written with total fun by Michael Green, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, based on a story by John Norville, Josh Goldstein, Ficarra and Requa, which is based on Disneyland's theme park ride. Usually when there are more than two writers, a film has a tendency to become bogged down--too many hands in the pot, but all these writers are seasoned and veteran ones--Ficarra and Requa team when they write--so it should be no surprise that this would be written well. They even had an obvious premise to work from since it is based on Disneyland's theme park ride where a small riverboat takes a group of travelers through a jungle filled with dangerous animals and reptiles but with a supernatural element. I couldn't help but notice that the first time I saw the trailer of this, I couldn't help but think of Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn in the 1951 classic, "The African Queen". While viewing this film, there was a good deal of correlation between the two characters in "The African Queen" and "Jungle Cruise". This was just a much updated version. The stories were totally different, however the characters were quite similar. Was this an Academy Award caliber film with the exception of maybe visual effects or sound effects? Probably not, but for why this film was made, all aspects hit the right mark. And, as usual, the visual effects predominantly by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic) and Weta Digital were amazingly seamless.
If you like the theme park ride or even like a great swashbuckling type of film such as "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "The Mummy", or even "Sahara", you will love this! It has all what we've come to expect from a action-packed summer film: adventure, explosions, fantasy, humor, and thrills all rolled up in a two plus hour running time. If you want to see this it a huge format, it is also presented in IMAX as well. Enjoy this one. I know I did!
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG-13 127mins.
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