Picking up 17 years after the last Jumanji left off, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is billed as a sequel, combining retro gaming with 21st century ideas and 2017 teen tropes like overenthusiastic selfie-taking. And in keeping with the retro feel that’s in vogue with many things these days, the video game in the current incarnation of Jumanji dates from the 90s – with game cartridges and wired remote controls.
As you’ve probably seen from all the trailers, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is an adventure comedy movie, peppered with laughs you’d expect from the Kevin Hart/The Rock combo. Throw in funnyman Jack Black, and you’re in for a rolling good time. Fresh from her role as “Nebula” in Guardians of the Galaxy, Karen Gillen adds eye candy ass-kicking to the team.
The latest Jumanji sees four distinct personality types that are classic of today’s teens: the jock (“Fridge”), the nerd (Spencer), the bimbo (Bethany), and the shy girl (Martha). They are thrown together unexpectedly during a session of detention, and get inadvertently sucked into the Jumanji universe as their chosen avatars.
While the movie’s opening introduces us to the four teens, much of the movie follows their avatars which are the complete opposite of their real-life personalities. Therein lies the comedy – high school jock “Fridge” loses 2 feet in height to become “Moose” Finbar the short zoologist (played by Kevin Hart), and skinny nerd Spencer gains 200lbs of muscle to become archeologist Dr. Smolder Bravestone (played by The Rock).
In what is probably the funniest twist of fate, narcissist Bethany’s chosen avatar happens to be an “overweight, middle-aged man”, Professor “Shelly” Oberon (played hilariously by Jack Black); rounding out the team is shy Martha who transforms into sexy Ruby Roundhouse (played by Karen Gillen) the “man killer” who’s an expert at “dance fighting” to the tune of Big Mountain’s “Baby I Love Your Way”.
The plot is simple: take the sacred jewel back to its rightful place in order to save the world from the evil Van Pelt – without getting killed along the way.
Each character has distinctive yet hilarious strengths and weaknesses, including Bravestone’s chuckle-worthy “smouldering intensity” eye-power, and Moose’s weakness for cake which actually kills him (coincidentally timed with Singapore’s “Let’s Beat Diabetes” campaign!). Nick Jonas also makes an appearance as “Seaplane” McDonough, whose useful strengths include… making margaritas.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a teen-trope movie without awkward moments: there’s one where Ruby awkwardly tries to “seduce” the guards, and then there’s this possible Teen’s Choice Award for “Most Awkward Kiss of the Year” between Dr. Bravestone and Ruby. Just, ewww.
While you’d expect hijinx and slapstick, you don’t really realise how invested in each character you really are – each time a character meets their “Weakness” (which erases one of their 3 “lives”), there is a very audible gasp from the audience. Yes, you can’t help but memorise their “Weaknesses” just like you would when you play video games.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle succeeds in being a love letter to 80s and 90s classic gaming – including the addition of NPCs with their pre-programmed dialogue – without becoming too cliché. It’s a fun movie to watch if you’re in the mood for a simple, funny action/adventure flick with a simple storyline.
Not surprisingly, none of the characters get along with each other at the beginning, but throughout the game, these awkward teens learn about tolerance and trust, and become best buds towards the end. It seems that the movie its a pretty apt metaphor for today’s teens – that socialising is something accomplished much easier in the digital world.
