Jumanji: The Next Level: Film Review
Franchise sequels can be a complicated thing. Crafting a successful sequel requires telling a fresh, interesting story, while also keeping within the franchise’s canon. Sequels are notorious for falling short of the established audience’s expectations… or just generally tarnishing the reputation of the franchise altogether. Luckily, this isn’t the case for Jake Kasdan’s Jumanji: The Next Level.
Standing as the third film in the Jumanji series after the Robin Williams classic from 1995 and Kasdan’s 2017 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, this installment serves as a good continuation of the story. It sets itself up in a way that seems like a logical bridge over from the 2017 film, while also giving the characters and game a new and exciting trajectory.
Spoilers ahead!
We pick up a year or so after the events of the previous film. The group (Spencer, Martha, Fridge, and Bethany) is fragmented after high school, but plans to meet for brunch while home for the holidays. Spencer has become unhappy with his lackluster life. He has to contend with braving the cold, rainy loneliness of NYU as himself, rather than the exciting terrain of Jumanji as Dr. Smolder Bravestone (“The Rock”). He returns home to find his ailing and ornery Grandpa Eddie (Danny DeVito) sharing his bedroom— adding to Spencer’s discontent. Rather than meeting with the rest of the group, he decides to repair the game console, so that he can return to Jumanji and live as Bravestone. Once sucked into the game, the group comes to his home to look for him , only to get sucked into the game themselves. And who also gets unintentionally dragged along for the ride? You guessed it: Grandpa Eddie and his ex-friend and business partner, Milo (Danny Glover) — who has inconveniently decided to visit after years of not speaking to Grandpa Eddie. Go figure. Now in Jumanji, they must bring Spencer home while simultaneously beating a new iteration of the game.
Granted, when you hear that this is the plot of the film, it may or may not cause you to roll your eyes. I’m not sure why a classic trope of sequels is to essentially do the same as the previous film, but with the main characters’ parents or grandparents. This film adopts that trait with the inclusion of Danny DeVito and Danny Glover (double Dannys for the win!). Instead of coming off as cheesy, however, this actually ends up contributing a lot of heart to the film. and honestly made me tear up a little at the end.
The film also doesn’t do entirely the same thing as the 2017 version, as a whole new story for the game — complete with a new (more dangerous) villain and additional characters — is provided. Combine that with a dire need to rescue their friend, and get these ailing, old men back home to safety….and boom! You’ve effectively heightened the stakes and given the audience something new to get excited about. We also see these established characters attain new skill sets and be “played” by new characters within the story. What this does for the comedic value of the film is paramount to its success. The opportunity for audiences to see these actors exercise their chops is even more gratifying than the actual story. The idea of The Rock playing Danny DeVito and Kevin Hart playing Danny Glover is exactly as great as it sounds. We also get a few rapid-fire moments in which the players switch game characters back and forth — which is just super fun to watch.
One thing I will note is that for the majority of the film, we see Fridge (an African-American character) donning Jack Black as his avatar. This essentially means that Jack Black is portraying a black character. I honestly don’t think his performance was overdone, disrespectful, or stereotypical, because he is still playing this specific person who does have specific character traits, mannerisms, and vocal inflections. But this could understandably be seen as problematic and mildly insensitive to many.
Other than that, I found the diversity level to be fairly balanced. We have a multitude of ethnically diverse men and women (Kevin Hart, Danny Glover, Awkwafina, Ser’Darius Blain, Dwayne Johnson, to name a few). We also get a portrayal of strong females with Bethany (Madison Iseman) as she uses her skills and resources to get into the game and rescue her friends, as well as with Martha/Ruby Roundhouse (Morgan Turner/Karen Gillan) as she finds confidence and once again exhibits expertise in deadly “dance fighting.”
This film definitely isn’t a masterpiece, and most film buffs are likely to turn their noses up at it. But as far as being a thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining, and comical ride, it no doubt earns its merits. There is a brief teaser at the end of the movie that alludes to a possible 4th installment. We see a stampede of ostriches running the streets of New Hampshire, in front of the restaurant where our heroes dine. The idea that we may get another film in the vein of the 1995 Jumanji, with the game characters and creatures breaching the real world, would be extremely fun to see. At this point, I’m not sure if this is a real possibility or how the story would be executed. One thing I am sure about, though, is that this lady will be buying a ticket regardless.
