Ahh, Jumanji.
A classic kids’ film from my generation, bringing to life wild and unimaginable circumstances, destroying a town, all in the name of good, terrifying fun.
The new movie, Jumanji, Welcome to the Jungle, lost quite a bit of its magic without Robin Williams, but was still a fun movie nevertheless.
Spoiler alert: none of the kids slowly turn into a monkey, and elephants do not rampage downtown.
The modern take on an outdated board game transforms Jumanji into a video game in the 1990s. For anyone who hasn’t seen the trailer or doesn’t know what it’s all about, four kids get sucked into the video game while on a Breakfast Club type of detention.
Unfortunately, the intensity of rolling the dice to move the game pieces into inevitable danger is lost in the new movie, but they try to reclaim the anticipation with the idea of game levels.
There might just be too much action jam packed into the idea of the video game, and the movie somewhat loses its anxiety-ridden game play.
However, one of the characters, played by Jack Black, perfectly personifies the young blond popular girl in high school. There are quite a few hilarious moments throughout Jumanji that make this movie worth the watch.
The actors do a really good job all around embodying the life of all of the young teenagers. There’s the popular girl, the jock, the nerdy boy, and a socially awkward girl who get sucked into the video game and have to play along like their lives depend on it.
Overall the movie was really well done and the acting was on point. It just wasn’t the same. And, that could just be the nostalgia talking.
I’d give Jumanji eight out of 10 popcorns, but I’m going to take it down a notch because the movie didn’t stay true enough to its roots and give it six out of 10 popcorns.
