Jumanji – Welcome to the Jungle
4 stars
Director: Jake Kasdan
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart
Duration: 119 mins
Class: 12
KRS Releasing Ltd

I have very vague memories of Jumanji, released in 1995, other than remembering it was about an ancient board game that comes to life. I can only conjure up foggy images of the late Robin Williams struggling with quicksand, a dilapidated mansion, and a herd of elephants stampeding down a street.

Clearly, however, someone, somewhere had much better and clearer memories of it, finding in it a reason to make this sequel – 22 years after the original. And, while initially the reason why anyone would want to make a sequel admittedly eluded me, I must say that the final result is a fun-filled romp in the jungle that offers a couple of hours of above average family entertainment suitable for the time of year.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle finds four high school students stuck together in detention when they discover a very old video game console. Curiosity gets the better of them and, once they figure out how to switch the game on and choose which characters they want, to their horror they are sucked into a great vortex and land in the titular jungle. Suddenly, they find themselves in the adult bodies of the characters they chose. They soon discover that, only if they go on an adventurous and oftentimes perilous journey, will they succeed in getting back to their normal lives.

Offers a couple of hours of above average family entertainment suitable for the time of year

Cue lots of fun involving a lush verdant landscape, all sorts of shenanigans with wild animals, murderous hunters and mysterious clues, mixed in with lots of action, and plenty of comedy. Granted, it earns few points for originality. Yet, underneath all the obvious is the underlying theme of self-discovery, as the four teenagers we meet at the beginning of the film find themselves on this insane adventure in other people’s bodies, and each use this rather unusual situation to figure out who they really are. This brings us to the film’s biggest strength – while film plots involving body swaps are hardly original, all four leads channel their younger counterparts’ behaviour in a fun, engaging and, crucially, a credible way. The film offers the audience some genuinely sweet and charming company.

Dwayne Johnson has undoubtedly had an extraordinary career so far. The former wrestling champion known as The Rock made a seamless transition to the movies, going on to become one of the most popular actors in Hollywood; winning much critical and popular acclaim. He is certainly to be applauded for his choice of roles.

While action blockbusters are certainly his forte, Johnson has never shied away from lighter, comedic, and children’s fare, even sending up his own image when playing the title role in 2010’s The Tooth Fairy. In his performance here, it is no stretch to believe that Dr Smolder Bravestone, the hero of the piece – strong, silent, daring and a whizz with weapons –  is at heart the nerdy Spencer (played as a teenager by Alex Wolff), a shy, bumbling sufferer of allergies. Johnson absolutely nails the contradiction between the physical and emotional aspects of the character.

His co-stars fare equally well – Karen Gillan stars as Ruby Roundhouse, the avatar chosen by the angry and awkward Martha (Morgan Turner), a young teen who seems to hate everything and everyone around her and uses her time in the jungle to come out of her shell.

Comedian Kevin Hart is the alter ego of confident football jock ‘Fridge’, played by Ser’darius Blain. Yet, the hulking, menacing Fridge is horrified to discover he is a rather smaller person in Jumanji – he becomes ‘Moose’, a zoologist and a ‘weapons valet’.

The biggest challenge is faced by Bethany (Madison Iseman), your typical high school prom queen-type character. Self-centred and vain, she is appalled to find herself in the guise of Dr Shelly Oberon, the brains of the operation. She is an expert in cartography, archaeology and palaeontology. She is also… a man, who looks amazingly like Jack Black! Needless to say, this gender swap is the basis for one penis joke too many. Yet, Black has a ball as the young girl in a man’s body.