Jumanji: The Next Level

Very slow story telling and not as good as 2017 version

I am very fond of the first iteration of JUMANJI, with Robin Williams giving a wonderful performance and the latest in CGI, which looks either quaintly charming or charmingly quaint a quarter of a century later. The remake a couple of years ago struck me as foolish before I saw it, but it turned into a highly amusing movie, with some favored performers. It made enough money that now it is a series. If they continue at this level, it will be a pleasant movie for me to see every couple of years.

When we last saw Jumanji, it had been turned into a home video game, and the youngsters were vowing never to return. Well, by and large they do, because the last one turned into a surprise hit. They're a couple of years older, cracks have formed in their relationships, and for various reasons, two of them can't go in, because their avatars are taken by Danny Devito as Alex Wolff's grandfather, and Danny Glover as Devito's former business partner. They've been angry with each other for several years.

It's a different adventure, and it makes as much sense as any video game. The avatars get swapped around, so the acting fun consists of watching the actors playing other actors in a FACE OFF sort of way. Dwayne Johnson does a pretty good Devito imitation, but Awkwafina does a better one.

This is one movie that is not going to win any awards, but if you're not in the mood for deep-dish suffering nor for something biliously Christmas-like, this is a movie with good performers in roles and situations that will amuse you.

I thought the last Jumanji movie was pretty decent, not perfect, but definitely not bad. If you liked that one you will like this. It is very much just more of the same. If it ain't broke, you know.

A couple new faces, one of them I really liked seeing. Won't say who it was, but if you're older than 20, chances are good you like the person.

The action is like last time, it's entertaining, but not mind blowing. The effects are overall good. The Rock has some, lets call them punching scenes, which I liked. Although the action direction overall, could have been slightly better, tighter.

They once again have fun with the fact that the characters "in game" represent characters in the movies "real life". And I am pretty impressed with how the actors fared. Maybe especially Dwayne Johnson. (I think he's taking some serious acting classes, he's getting better) Overall the cast in this is very likeable.

I didn't feel quite that much that I was in a video game, this time around though. Felt more like just an adventure, than an adventure videogame. They could have hammered home a little better. So yeah, I was entertained, but it's pretty shallow and won't stick with me like, say, the origianl Jumanji. (I watched that as a kid, and it was kind of revolutionary, so of course it stuck) Nice family flick.

It's an entertaining sequel. The effects and the story (in the game) were surprisingly good for a sequel. It also took entirely too long to get into the game.

What brought the movie down a notch is the tired troupe of grandpa has to have everything explained 20 times. And the overdone old man routine. Ugh. It gave me flashbacks of Jar Jar Binks. That and a miscast Awkwafina - maybe it's just me, but I found her to be incredibly annoying.

It is definitely NOT better than the last one, but isn't a flop either.

After the success of the sleeper hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, it was only a matter of time before a sequel got made. Jumanji: The Next Level is pretty much Welcome to the Jungle all over again. It's a fun movie, it's cleverly written, and that's about it. It covers many of the same beats, but it's still funny because the premise is something that can be used for a whole new set of different jokes and gags. Spencer goes back to Jumanji, and the others need to get him back. Only this time, Spencer's grandfather (Danny DeVito) and his business partner (Danny Glover) get sucked in too. At the beginning, Danny DeVito is in the Rock's body, Danny Glover in Kevin Hart, Fridge in Jack Black, and Martha returns to Karen Gillan.

The main source of humor is people adjusting to being in different bodies and having different abilities, and it is based on the idea of people ending up in the bodies of people drastically contrast with who they are as people. The reason it works is that the audience is somehow able to see Danny DeVito as the Rock, rather than the just Rock acting like an old guy. It's a difficult thing to pull off, and it does so successfully. While the idea of the old guys adjusting is funny at first, it does get old after a while. It funny enough on its own to make it a good time. Much like the previous movie, it carries a strong sense of adventure. It does end on a sequel hook, so Jumanji 4 is inevitable at this point. Based on this and WTTJ, we can imagine it's going to be a fun, entertaining, and enjoyable.