Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Okay, I wasn't expecting it, but surprisingly it was quite good. It was brisk, entertaining here and there, and well-paced from start to finish. I didn't even think the acting was bad, on the contrary everyone did a decent job. As a relaxing, no-frills follow-up to the 1995 film, it accomplishes what it's supposed to. A strong 3 stars. (2019-12-15)

An understandable generational upgrade of a classic for today's degenerate audience. Noisier, more digital, more spectacular, but also lacking in childlike charm and family values. Definitely cool fun for millennials with likeable jokes and big names in the cast that certainly don't make a disgrace. We older folks would rather watch the original from the 1990s, as this remake evaporates from our minds during the screening. (2018-04-24)

While the original Jumanji is a classic in the family film genre, the Zathura variation was aimed exclusively at younger children, and then the modern Jumanji is pure entertainment for fans of Jack Black and Dwayne Johnson. If you enjoy those two, you'll be satisfied, if not, you can safely skip it. (2022-05-22)

That was good. The introduction is very bland and all the characters (except perhaps the sexy Bethany) are rendered unimaginatively and boringly, but the game is a lot of fun and almost constantly entertains by contrasting the newly created avatars with their real-life counterparts. And so it happened that I didn't mind The Rock, who is even more over the top than ever, or Kevin Hart, who was really funny most of the time, and of course not even Jack Black, who has never bothered me and also has perhaps his funniest role ever. The pacing is right on and I loved the overall concept of the narrative, which perfectly evokes the video game world and feels fresh and imaginative; the characters robotically saying their in-game lines, the gradual loss of lives and the system of several levels with new obstacles that didn't feel repetitive at all, which was something I was worried about. Sure, it's ridiculously digital and poorly edited at times, and there could have been even more humour, but I still had a great time, and I have to appreciate that Kasdan keeps an eye on the development of the story and characters and doesn't just relegate it to a mindless adrenaline rush across the digital environment (which is partly what killed Valerian). One of the nicest surprises of this year. (2017-12-27)

I do not like to rate movies on the basis of comparison, but it can not be any other way with such calculated unoriginal remakes. The original Jumanji from the 1990s had, in addition to well-developed characters played by great actors, another great advantage, because the whole magical adventure stemmed from the conflict of these characters with horrific scenes emerging from a board game in the real world. In addition, it worked very well on both comedic and dramatic levels, and even had a naturally evolved villain, created by the tumultuous relationship between father and son. As for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, in short, well it is lacking all these things. The story has been updated and changed to a video game console, thus losing its magic, because in a video game, anything could happen really, and so the shock-value is lost. The plot is completely random, practically only going from point A to point B, and there is no room for a more powerful storyline, and the villain (Cannavale), is only an unnecessary obligatory device that could be completely omitted. The humor only comes from the basic premise of a weak nerd who finds himself inside an avatar of a muscle-man, a bimbo Barbie doll inside the avatar of a fat academic, etc. Actually, this is a terribly lazily designed remake. The only added value of the new Jumanji is that after watching it, perhaps more viewers will appreciate the original version with Robin Williams. (2019-12-04)