Once again, the actors doing impressions/playing against type is the best thing the film has going for it.
Jack Black stole the last movie, this time that award goes to Kevin Hart (first two acts) and Awkwafina (final third).
Having said that, the movie that's build around the impression comedy isn't as good, nor fun, as last time.
The story takes the T2 approach of making a sequel, i.e. switch the roles that everyone plays, and keep the story the same.
Unfortunately, the approach can't save the film from its own poor choices regarding the filmmaking.
The action in this is quite poor, to which some people will undoubtedly respond: well, it's supposed to be cheesy.
To be fair, I probably would've given a pass for it if there was an analog charm to it, but I just refuse to do that for lazy, digitized ugliness.
Moreover, the comedy isn't as sharp and witty as it was before.
Surprisingly, there's a lot of reliance on slapstick, which almost makes it feel like this was made for a younger demographic than the last one.
There's not a single scene that matches Karen Gillan's outstanding seduction scene from the previous film.
Also, there's a lot of expository dialogue that shouldn't be there.
Finally, the ending begs for comparisons to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom , which makes me go: out of anything you could've done, why on earth would you willingly choose to go there?
4.5/10
Haha, nice, well done! They brought in quite a few new elements so it didn't get boring. Funnily enough Eddie (as himself / the grandpa) is now my favorite character.
Bethany (that Instagram girl :D) is so recognizable. But she didn't take a selfie and didn't post the picture publicly so I'm quite impressed! :)
Martha has a nose ring now?!? I didn't see that one coming :D Maybe she wanted to look a little bit less like "just" a smart girl or something like that?
Danny DeVito as grandpa Eddie is so funny to watch! He just has to go up a ladder and it's already funny xD So good <3
Eddie: "It's all downhill from here." - Unfortunately I can kinda relate. Luckily I'm still very fit and healthy so I shouldn't complain but I doubt it'll get better. But it certainly could and hopefully will :)
Milo: "You going somewhere?" - Eddie and Milo are also so funny together.
Fridge: "You think?!?" :D
Eddie's quote "Getting old ... is a gift. I forget that sometimes. But it is." is a really good way to wrap things up in a beautiful way <3
And I like the open ending. I guess there will be a third movie? Could be very interesting :)
it was a really entertaining movie, nothing really to point out. the plot was good enough, I really liked how the "videogame" was structured, opened a lot of space for jokes and laughs. I genuinely laughed at many jokes in the movie, just a really well made comedy nothing really to add to that.
If there's something that I kinda need to criticize is the way they handled Milo.
I really liked his interaction with the rest of the group and I think that his slow way of talking really added a lot to the comedic side of things, but just him deciding "you know what I'm gonna stick in here for the rest of eternity" doesn't feel right to me. Like, dude has a wife in the real world, what is she supposed to believe? How could they ever explain her what happened, is she supposed to just accept that her husband disappear in thin air and she won't even have a body to cry on? It feels rather selfish for him to just avoid the consequence of...well, death. Because sure, dude was apparently about to die and that by itself is a pretty good reason to stay in a place where you won't die, I get that, but still...it was built to be an emotional moment and it kind of was, but the entire time I was just thinking "dude what are you doing, you are just gonna be a flying horse for the rest of eternity now? aren't you gonna miss your wife, your life, literally anything about the real world??"
Eternal life might seem like a blessing but eventually you get bored no matter what and it looks like nobody wants to ever come back there, so nobody will save him if he ever regrets his decision. It does look like they setted something up for a third movie but it would just feel cheap to have the character be like "you know what fuck this get me out of here" after that moment. I can see him maybe helping them out or something, but making him change his mind would make the whole thing pretty pointless.
Either way, it's not like I watched this movie for the plot lmao I watched it for laughs and a bit of action and I was pretty satisfied so there's that
As Jack Black says in the Blu-Ray extras due to the amount of money Jumanji In the Jungle made he knew he was ‘going to get a call’ and that in nutshell is why this sequel exists, making money. This in itself does not make the film bad or poor but purely from a lover of films point of view it is disappointing.
All the same cast return with added Danny DeVito, playing the same role Danny DeVito plays now, frankly it is good and he can do it with his eyes closed and Danny Glover more or less in his comfort zone playing a role he can do with his eyes closed also. The writers had to find a reason for the game to still exist, it was scrapped in the first film, and why anyone would go back into it. Spencer is the character chosen to start it all off again but by a sad sack, again. So far, all good.
The story zips along with the fun and exciting pace of the first film, Rory McCann being the standout as a fine baddie, and everyone has fun doing impressions of their actor colleagues with varying degrees of success, some inhabit the character and seem to be that person in a different avatar whereas others just do a good Mike Yarwood impression, I’m looking at you Awkwafina.
I laughed at the run time and had fun but overall, the feeling I was getting was ‘I’ve seen this before, and only recently’. The actors, particularly the youngsters who transform into the ‘star-actors’ give the impression of being good friends and lively happy young adults, a weird way to put it but this aspect of the film made me smile.
The effects and cinematography are good, the fun parts are fun and the peril in general is perilous even if you know the outcome before the film even starts. I felt that the makers were trying to shoe-horn too many people in with SeaPlane (Colin Hanks/Nick Jones) returning, one thinks would he really go back into something he’d been in for 20 years, and as mentioned the veteran actors and Awkwafina added to the mix. I am not sure it was needed and I am not convinced it worked. Having said that I did not think a sequel was needed.
Jumanji: The Next Level is a fun romp but all too familiar and not different or interesting enough from the original. It tries to make some vague points about keeping friends, reconciliation and so forth but nothing that you have not seen before albeit worse and better.
From the ending sequence the makers clearly want to make Jumanji: Not Again and it will probably happen. Therein lies the problem with film making for major studios today.
Oh, and Lilith turns up at the end without her hair in a tight bun. I do not watch a lot of US TV, so I have not seen Bebe Neuwirth for a long time and it was nice to see her in a little cameo.
The Next Level, watch it, enjoy it, do not remember it a day later.
Review by Jack CornishBlockedParent2019-12-14T23:35:05Z
This movie was great and I absolutely loved it. I wasn't too sure going into it as I haven't seen any of the other Jumanji movies and I know that may sound bad seen as though this is a sequel but I feel like this did well as a stand alone aswell as a follow on from a previous movie.
Acting: the acting in this movie was superb and it contained some very big names. From someone like Dwayne Johnson to the wonderful actress Karen Gillan the cast was very well picked out and I found all of them to have very believable characters.
some negatives however was that the acting was lackluster in some part but these points were very minimal.
Storyline: the storyline was very thought out and contained serious but also funny moments. These funny moments also didn't seem very forced as opposed to some other films which try and be funny for the sake of it. This seemed more like natural comedy instead of forced comedy.
The ending did leave the idea that there could be another sequel and that is one thing that did strike a bit of a problem with me as I feel although this story was good it doesn't need to carry on any longer in my opinion.
Overall, great movie