It was late May when we at Matt Lynn Digital first reviewed the movie Jumanji (1995). Today we enjoy a look into the Jake Kasdan movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), which theoretically plays in a movie universe that is shared. For the sake of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, it is not necessary to have seen the movie Jumanji to understand what is happening.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle speaks to an unusual circumstance of real world characters that are drawn into an experience that resembles something outside the real word. In Jumanji, the alternate experience was in the real world mixing in the with a board game. The world of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle takes this concept into a virtual world through a video game console. Alex Wolff as Spencer Gilpin, Ser’Darius Blain as Anthony ‘Fridge’ Johnson, Morgan Turner as Martha Kaply and Madison Iseman as Bethany Walker are the four real life friends brought into the new world.
The strongly comedic turn that Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle takes is in turning the board game notion of the original movie into a video game setting. The comedy rests in drawing the characters who crossed over from real life to the video game storyline in the film as distinctly different from who they started. The proposition freshens the theme of the initial movie with a brand of humor that moves from adults and kids to a group of teenagers. From the original high schoolers in this film, Jack Black as Bethany Walker becomes Professor Sheldon ‘Shelly’ Oberon, Karen Gillan as Martha Kaply becomes Ruby Roundhouse, Dwayne Johnson as Spencer Gilpin becomes Dr. Xander ‘Smolder’ Bravestone, and Kevin Hart as Anthony Fridge Johnson becomes Franklin ‘Mouse’ Finbar. Nick Jonas as Alex Vreeke is introduced in game, becoming Jefferson ‘Seaplane’ McDonough.
Alex Vreeke exists in the “real life” of the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle world, being discovered as a character in the game world presented in the movie. The story of Alex is unique, and is distinct from the characters of Professor Van Pelt and Nigel Billingsley, portrayed respectively by Bobby Cannavale and Rhys Darby. Colin Hanks portrayed Alex Vreeke.
The sensibility of adventure, character interaction, and video game rules for an entertaining, funny and fresh movie experience. That Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle kept the irreverent, not taking itself seriously quality made for a good change of pace in comparison to recent movies we’ve reviewed here. I give Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
Matt – Saturday, June 19, 2021
Matt Lynn Digital 