Psycho's Movie Reviews #277: Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2017)

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a 2017 American fantasy adventure comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan, co-written by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, and Jeff Pinkner, and starring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, and Bobby Cannavale. It is the third instalment of the Jumanji franchise, after Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), and it is a direct sequel to Jumanji (1995), which was based on the 1981 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. The story focuses on a group of teenagers who come across Jumanji—now transformed into a video game—twenty-one years after the events of the 1995 film. They find themselves trapped in the game as a set of adult avatars, seeking to complete a quest alongside another player who has been trapped since 1996.

Principal photography began in Honolulu in September 2016 and ended in Atlanta in December, with the film containing notable references to the first film as a tribute to its lead actor Robin Williams. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle premiered at the Grand Rex in Paris on December 5, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 20, in RealD 3D, IMAX 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, and 4DX formats by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its humour and performances. The movie grossed over $962 million worldwide, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2017. The sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level, was released in December 2019.

Plot

In 1996, Brantford, New Hampshire, teenager Alex Vreeke receives Jumanji, which was previously disposed of by Alan Parrish and Sarah Whittle in 1969, from his father who discovered it at the coast while jogging. Uninterested, Alex sets it aside, only to find it transformed into a video game cartridge later that night. Opting to play the game, he is suddenly sucked inside upon choosing a character. His disappearance results in his father becoming despondent and their home falling into disrepair.

Twenty-one years later, in 2017, four Brantford High School students – rebellious Martha Kaply, shallow Bethany Walker, awkward Spencer Gilpin, and athlete Anthony "Fridge" Johnson – are sent by Principal Bentley to clean the school's basement for detention – Bethany for talking on her phone during a quiz, Martha for objecting to participating in physical education, and Spencer and Fridge for the former writing the latter's essay assignment for him as it was considered cheating. Fridge discovers Alex's discarded video game system, which he and Spencer decide to play and encourage the girls to join them. Upon starting the game, they are sucked into Jumanji, landing in a jungle as their chosen characters – Spencer as muscular explorer and archaeologist Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone; Fridge as diminutive zoologist Franklin "Mouse" Finbar; Martha as martial arts expert Ruby Roundhouse; and Bethany as male cartographer and palaeontologist Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon.

While coming to terms with their situation, the group find three marks on their arms denoting lives. Spencer theorizes that if they lose all three, they will die in real life. The group encounter the game's non-player character guide Nigel Billingsley who provides them with the game's narrative and their characters' backstories. The group learn that their goal is to end a curse on Jumanji, brought about by corrupt archaeologist Professor Russell Van Pelt after he stole a magical jewel called the "Jaguar's Eye" from its shrine and gained control of all the jungle's animals, casting a terrible curse upon Jumanji. Nigel hands Spencer the jewel, having stolen it from Van Pelt, and instructs the group to return it to a statue at the shrine and call out "Jumanji" to lift the curse and leave the game before driving off.

Coping with their avatars, their "weaknesses", Van Pelt's men, and Spencer and Fridge's animosity towards each other, the group encounter Alex operating the fifth avatar – pilot Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough – who takes them to a treehouse that Alan Parrish built during his tenure in Jumanji after saving them from Van Pelt's men. Upon realizing his identity, the group is collectively shocked upon learning how long he has been trapped in the game, although Alex thought he'd only been there a few months. Now with a common goal, the group vows to help Alex return home with them.

Dealing with further problems while heading for the shrine, the group coordinate to overcome them. They eventually reach the shrine, but Van Pelt corners them. Working together, Fridge, Bethany, and Alex distract him while Spencer and Martha out-manoeuvre him with the game's mechanics, returning the jewel to the statue. Upon calling out Jumanji, the group destroy Van Pelt and, after sharing a handshake with Nigel, return to the real world.

Returning to the school basement, the foursome find Alex is not with them. While walking home, they unexpectedly find the Vreeke home restored and decorated for a Christmas family gathering. The group is greeted by Alex, now an adult, who explains that he managed to miraculously return to 1996, which allowed him to lead a married life with two children. He has a son named Andy and his daughter is named after Bethany, who revived him with one of her lives in the game.

The four students become friends after their experiences in the game, with Bethany becoming a better person, Spencer and Fridge patching things up, and Spencer starting a relationship with Martha. Later, they destroy the game by dropping a bowling ball they found earlier on it to prevent it from endangering anyone else.

Production

Development

Plans for a Jumanji sequel were put ahead by Sony Pictures Entertainment in the late 1990s. As reported by Ain't It Cool News, a stand-alone sequel entitled Jumanji 2 was in development in 1999. The plot of the story involved John Cooper, the President of the United States, buying Jumanji from an old antique store in Europe and bringing it to the White House to play it with his children (one of whom, Butch, just wants a dad not a President for a father). Cooper then gets sucked into the world of Jumanji, paving the way for his evil Vice President, who was supposed to be played by Steve Buscemi, to rise to power as Cooper's replacement. Inside the game, Cooper would have teamed up with hybrid animals, which were going to be animated with CGI; Sony Pictures Consumer Products executive VP of worldwide consumer products Peter Dang revealed prototype drawings of animals that may have appeared in the film, all designed by Ken Ralston, who served as visual effects supervisor in the original film and was planned to make his directorial debut with Jumanji 2, slated for a Christmas 2000 release date. Ralston eventually stepped down and the project stalled, albeit the DVD commentary of the first film still references a sequel directed by Ralston.

In July 2012, rumours circulated that a remake of Jumanji was in development. Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgrad said: "We're going to try and reimagine Jumanji and update it for the present." On August 1, 2012, it was confirmed that Matthew Tolmach would produce the new version with William Teitler (who produced the original film). In August 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that the film was scheduled for release on December 25, 2016. Online reception to the news was negative, with some saying that the announcement came too soon after the death of Robin Williams in August 2014 (who played Alan Parrish in the original film). The announcement was criticized by Bradley Pierce (who played Peter Shepherd in Jumanji) and by E! News, which called the remake "unnecessary and kind of insulting". On October 23, 2015, Scott Rosenberg was hired to rewrite the script for the film, whose production was a high priority for the studio.[20] On January 14, 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that Jake Kasdan had been hired to direct the film from a script by Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner based on a draft by original writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.

In March 2017, during CinemaCon, it was announced that the film's complete title was Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Its plot involved teenagers cleaning out a school's basement who find a vintage video-game version of Jumanji and are sucked into the first film's jungle setting. Although fans debated whether the film was a sequel or a reboot, the second trailer (released on September 20, 2017) indicated that the sequel is set 21 years after the first. Dwayne Johnson noted that the film was inspired by classic video games of the 1990s. The film had used the working title "Jumanji" and the final title and the use of the song "Welcome to the Jungle" was suggested by Jack Black.

Casting

On April 15, 2016 Variety reported that Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart were in early talks to star in the film (although both actors had other projects). Later in the month, Johnson confirmed his casting on Instagram. In July, it was reported that Nick Jonas had joined the film's cast with Johnson, Hart, and Jack Black. The following month, Johnson said that the film would not be a reboot but a continuation of the 1995 film; Karen Gillan was announced as part of the cast. On September 20, Ser'Darius Blain was cast as Anthony "Fridge" Johnson and Madison Iseman as Bethany Walker. Two days later, Rhys Darby was cast as Nigel Billingsley, Morgan Turner as Martha Kaply, and Alex Wolff as Spencer Gilpin. In November 2016, Bobby Cannavale announced his casting in the film, and in December 2016, Tim Matheson joined the cast as Old Man Vreeke.

Filming Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart on the film's set at Kualoa Ranch in Hawaii.

Principal photography began on September 19, 2016, in Honolulu, Hawaii, primarily at the Kualoa Ranch nature reserve. The film wrapped on December 8 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Music

James Newton Howard was originally signed to compose the film's score, he was replaced by Henry Jackman when the film's release date was postponed six months. The soundtrack was released digitally on 15 December 2017 by Sony Masterworks.

Visual Effects

The visual effects are provided by Iloura and Supervised by Glenn Melenhorst with help from Moving Picture Company, Ollin VFX and Rodeo FX.

Release/Reception/Box Office

In August 2015, Sony gave the film a release date of December 25, 2016. Since filming did not begin until September 2016, the release was pushed back to July 28 and then to December 20, 2017.

On November 29, 2017, it was announced that Amazon Prime members in the United States would have early access to tickets for a December 8 screening of the film at select Regal, National Amusements, ArcLight Cinemas and AMC theatres. The screenings sold out at 1,200 theatres and earned $1.9 million. The film was released on IMAX 2D on January 12, 2018.

In India, the film was released in English, Tamil, Hindi & Telugu languages on December 20, 2017, while in China, the film was released on December 29, 2017.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 76% based on 238 reviews, and an average rating of 6.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle uses a charming cast and a humorous twist to offer an undemanding yet solidly entertaining update on its source material." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an 84% positive score.

Dave White of TheWrap praised the cast and called the film a pleasant surprise: "Jumanji: Welcome to The Jungle is the Christmas tentpole release that aims to please and succeeds, a funny family entertainment product that subverts more expectations than it was obligated to contractually". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone writes "enough star power and comic zest to deliver a fun time at the movies barely" and praises the cast, particularly Jack Black as hilarious and for finding the "vulnerable heart" of the character. Travers gives the film 2.5 stars out of 4. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian newspaper gives the film 3 out of 5 stars. Bradshaw praises Johnson for his "endearing performance" and calls it an "amiable effort" expects that will go down well on home viewings.

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a C grade, calling it unnecessary but mildly amusing: "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is further proof that even the stalest whiff of brand recognition has become preferable to originality. Only part of the blame for that belongs to the studios but after cannibalizing themselves for much of the last 20 years, Hollywood has clearly eaten their way down to the crumbs". For Variety, Owen Gleiberman wrote: "Excitement! Suspense! Childlike innocence! Ingeniously staged action set pieces! These are a few of the things you will not find, anywhere, in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. It's supposed to be a board game come to life but really, it's just a bored game."

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle grossed $404.6 million in the United States and Canada and $557.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $962.1 million. On April 10, 2018, the film passed Spider-Man ($403.7 million) to become Sony's highest-grossing film domestically. On December 25, 2021, Spider-Man: No Way Home surpassed the film at $405 million to become Sony's highest-grossing film domestically. Deadline Hollywood calculated its net profit as $305.7 million when factoring all expenses and revenues, making it 2017's fourth-most-profitable release.

In the U.S. and Canada, the film was released on December 20, 2017, with The Greatest Showman and was projected to gross about $60 million from 3,765 theatres in its six-day opening weekend; the studio predicted a $45 million debut. It earned $7.2 million on its first day and $7.6 million on its second day. Over the three-day weekend, the film grossed $36.2 million (for a six-day total of $71.9 million), finishing second at the box office behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Its weekend-only earnings increased to $50.1 million during its second weekend, again finishing in second place at the box office. The 38.4 percent weekend-to-weekend increase was the fourth-largest for a film playing in over 3,000 theatres; The Greatest Showman set the record for best hold the same weekend. The film passed Star Wars: The Last Jedi for the top spot the following weekend, declining 28.1 percent to $36 million, and finished first again the following week with $28.1 million (and a total of $35.2 million over the four-day MLK weekend). Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle remained atop the box office for its third weekend, earning $19.5 million.

It again topped the box office for a fourth consecutive week (its sixth week overall in theatres) with $19.5 million, topping new releases 12 Strong and Den of Thieves. The film continued to do well the following week, dropping 16 percent (to $16.1 million) and finishing second to Maze Runner: The Death Cure, before regaining the top spot for a fifth time the following weekend with $10.9 million.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle concluded 2017 as the fifth highest-grossing film of the year worldwide.

Budget $90–150 million

Box office $962.5 million

My Review

Will admit to not expecting much. The advertising didn't have me completely sold, was worried as to whether it would be fun or turn into puerile immaturity and wasn't sure about the cast entirely. Saw it anyway being someone who wanted to see as many 2017 films as possible, who has seen their fair share and likes films intended to be escapist fun, who loves the Jumanji premise and who has fondness for the Robin Williams film.

'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle' turned to be much better and far more enjoyable than expected. It may not be a masterpiece or great, but it clearly strived to be glossy escapist fun and succeeded very well in that. Do prefer the earlier film but other than the title and the basic premise 'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle' to me seemed like its own take and should stand on its own.

Can see definitely why it won't appeal, and hasn't appealed to (though on the most part have seen more positivity than negativity), some. Didn't care for the first twenty minutes or so in the real world. It didn't have an awful lot of momentum in a first act that was just setting things up and took too long to do so, was awkward at times in the writing and the acting was far more comfortable and interesting once we got to Jumanji.

Most of the performances are fine once the film got going, but for me Nick Jonas was very bland and while more subdued than he usually is Kevin Hart for me sometimes grated (though at other points he is amusing), the rapid loudmouth shtick is going to be a very acquired taste.

However, 'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle' was highly successful in its aim of being glossy fun escapism. The film is two hours but once we're in Jumanji they fly by. Although the story can be extremely predictable and the outcomes not surprising, the lively energy, the exciting thrills, thrilling action and suitably nail-biting but not intensely so sense of peril more than compensates.

As do the witty script, that has the right dose of humour and surprising heart and even with the profanity from Hart it doesn't ever get too crude or puerile, and ace visual effects. Jumanji is colourfully rendered and mostly the film is nicely shot and more than capably directed. The music is rousing and pleasant to listen to and the ending is cosy and surprisingly poignant, which one doesn't expect yet it doesn't jar too much. There's even a nice Robin Williams/Alan Parrish tribute/homage touch, that is worth looking for if especially observant.

Dwayne Johnson smoulders in intensity and charisma, in terms of acting style it is very familiar territory for Johnson but he does it well and that's all that matters. Karen Gillen more than holds her own with the other leads, with a good deal of sass and charm (her flirting/dance scene after being taught to do it is one of the film's highlights). Bobby Cannavale is suitably formidable villain, if somewhat underused. Absolutely agree with everybody who says that Jack Black steals the show, he has the funniest lines and moments (which are plenty) and it is perhaps his best performance since 'School of Rock'. The character interplay, which the film is heavy on, really sparkles.

In conclusion, fun and surprisingly good film if not a great one. Just not as good as the original in my opinion; 7.7/10

{Plus, I kinda liked the villain in this more than the original, I kinda wish that he had more screen time. And, I don't know about you but, if I were him I'd see the curse as more of a gift; if I could have any superpower it would be to understand/control animals}