“Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle” was both exactly what I expected and not what I expected at all. My introduction to its existence was my mom showing me the first trailer, and it left me with quite a bit of laughter, but not much… hope, I guess. But much to my surprise this sequel was definitely one of my favorite movies of the year!
Let’s start off with the star-studded cast: The Rock, Jack Black, Karen Gillan and Kevin Hart with a bonus Nick Jonas appearance. I couldn’t even imagine a more fitting cast for this wild adventure.
The chemistry between the four leads specifically helped make this film as fun as it was. Jack Black playing a 16 year old phone obsessed girl got the most laughs out of me for sure. He played it to such a perfect extent that I was left questioning if he already had a role of this type, and I somehow missed it over the years.
However, it would be a huge injustice if I didn’t bring up how much I loved the actors and actresses playing the high schoolers: Alex Wolff, Ser’Darius Blain, Morgan Turner and Madison Iseman.
While they get significantly less screen time than their Jumanji counterparts, the personalities they show from the beginning shine through perfectly as their characters are carried in the game.
The way the writing and acting was able to establish the characters and sound natural no matter how awkward the situation (The relationship between Spencer and Martha especially), impressed me and made me cringe in the best way possible.
Away from my gushing about the cast and onto the movie itself, I definitely feel like I haven’t laughed that hard about a film in a long time. Comedy usually isn’t a genre I’m interested in when it’s the movie’s whole point. But “Jumanji’s” comedic timing and chemistry between actors, really made the jokes land a majority of the time.
Some moments that ought to be rather horrifying (such as Black being devoured by a hippo right at the start), turn hilarious due to the natural reactions of the cast.
Another funny moment in this vain was The Rock playing an awkward teenage boy with no fighting experience, in spite of his character’s role.
One of my favorite scenes is when two enemies are blocking the heroes from continuing forward on their adventure, and they have to make it past them without getting killed due to having a limit on their lives.
Bethany, played by Black, must teach Martha, played by Gillan, how to flirt and look sexy in order to distract the guards long enough for the rest of the party to steal a vehicle.
Witnessing Black teach someone how to be sexy is nothing that can be described properly and this moment alone practically demands the movie to be watched.
In the end, the entire film was an enjoyable ride from start to finish and I highly recommend giving it a watch if possible. The comedy and action sequences working hand-in-hand with a wonderful and fun cast is something no one should miss.
Erika Brandenburg
Staff Writer
