Movie Review: Jumanji — Welcome To The Jungle(2017)
As someone who has watched the original Jumanji movie multiple times I had high hopes for this movie. Unfortunately the movie didn’t exactly live up to my expectations.
The one thing that made the original Jumanji movie so interesting was the very nature of the game; it was a classical board game. Seemingly harmless but actually dangerous. In this movie however they changed the game and made it a video game instead. There are many things wrong with that. But since I’m trying to keep things short I’ll focus on the most relevant issue. In the storytelling world there are certain rules. One of them is the following: science/technology and magic don’t mix. It’s an unwritten rule but it is an important one nonetheless. This movie shall be a prime example as to why that is the case. It just seems odd on many levels.
Furthermore one has to reconcile with the fact that this “new” Jumanji game is much less dangerous and therefore less engaging than the old one. Let me explain; the old Jumanji transformed the real world through it’s ancient magic while the new one is nothing but a contained threat. Even in the worst case scenario the only one who would come to any harm would be the person who chose to play the game. It is therefore what I call a “sandboxed” environment/threat. No matter what you do, in the new Jumanji game the people around you (the spectators) remain safe. Meanwhile in the original movie the magic of the board game is so powerful and potent that it manages to literally transform reality itself. People got transformed and animals manifested themselves out of thin air. Things escalated quickly to the point where even innocent bystanders were in danger. I don’t know about you but I prefer a real sense of danger to spice things up. The new Jumanji never really made you feel like anyone was in real danger. After all they even get 2 extra lives… So, in a way the new Jumaji world is even more forgiving than reality, it seems. Because if you ended up dying due to one of the many dangers of the board game you’d be done for. No retry. You only get one chance. This is exactly what movies should be about; good storytelling. This reboot or sequel, whatever you wanna call it, was lacking in exactly that department. The story was not very compelling. It was like watching someone play a VR game. No, wait,.. that’s actually exactly what it was. There was nothing magical about that.
Yes, there were some funny scenes in the movie but I wonder. Somehow Hollywood seems to be believe the myth that you can mend any imperfections with plenty of jokes. This is not true however. Also, there were way too many sexual innuendo’s and jokes in this movie. Isn’t this supposed to be a family-friendly movie? I’m confused.
Final verdict: can’t recommend it (watch the original Jumanji instead)
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt2283362/
Ontology: #movie #review #Jumanji #TheRock #JackBlack #jungle #VR #videogame #magic #reboot #sequel
