Psycho's Movie Reviews #278: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

Jumanji: The Next Level is a 2019 American fantasy adventure comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and co-written by Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg. It is a sequel to 2017's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the second follow-up to 1995's Jumanji, and is the fourth instalment in the Jumanji franchise. It stars Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser'Darius Blain, and Madison Iseman reprising their roles from the previous film while Awkwafina, Rory McCann, Danny Glover, and Danny DeVito also join the cast. The film's plot takes place two years after Welcome to the Jungle, in which the same group of teenagers, along with an old friend and two unwitting additions, become trapped in Jumanji once again. There, they all find themselves facing new problems and challenges with both old and new avatars while having to save the land from a new villain to escape.

Principal photography took place during 2019, between January 21 to May 11 in locations including Atlanta, New Mexico, Alberta, and Hawaii, with much of the cast consisting of those from the previous film reprising their original roles for the sequel.

Jumanji: The Next Level was theatrically released in the United States on December 13, 2019, by Sony Pictures Releasing, under its Columbia Pictures label. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $800 million worldwide against a $125–132 million budget, becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of 2019. A sequel is in development.

Plot

Two years after their previous adventures in Jumanji, Spencer Gilpin, Anthony "Fridge" Johnson, Martha Kaply, and Bethany Walker go to separate colleges, but plan to meet up over Christmas break. The night before, Spencer, feeling despondent that his life isn't as glamorous as his friends', gets out Jumanji. When he doesn't show, his friends visit his mother's, and are greeted by Spencer's grandfather Eddie and Eddie's estranged friend and former business partner Milo Walker. Fridge, Martha, and Bethany realize he has gone into the game and they follow Spencer. Eddie and Milo are also sucked into the game inadvertently while Bethany is left behind.

Inside the game, Martha becomes an avatar named Ruby Roundhouse (who she had been previously). Fridge becomes Professor Sheldon Oberon (who had been Bethany previously) while Eddie and Milo become Dr. Smolder Bravestone and Franklin "Mouse" Finbar (which were Spencer and Fridge previously).

After giving Eddie and Milo Jumanji's rules, they encounter non-player character Nigel Billingsley, the game guide, who reveals that Jumanji is suffering from a massive drought. To leave the game, they must end the drought by recovering a magical necklace known as the Falcon Heart, stolen by warlord and Bravestone’s rival Jurgen the Brutal. Meanwhile, Bethany, still out of the game and in the real world, finds Jumanji player Alex Vreeke for help.

Transported to a desert to pursue Jurgen, and narrowly escaping a herd of ostriches, they encounter Spencer, operating with a new avatar, Ming Fleetfoot, a skilled thief. Apologizing for their predicament, Spencer joins them.

While attempting to escape the desert, they face new challenges and problems, along with collecting a Jumanji Berry and discovering a pool of glowing green water that allows them to switch avatars. However, the group struggles to adjust to the avatar changes: Fridge has trouble figuring out how Oberon is even relevant to the game, Spencer's meekness makes him unable to fully utilize Ming's skills, Milo's tendency to 'take the scenic route' when talking makes him unable to relay vital information quickly, and Eddie's hotheaded stubbornness costs the group several lives. Meanwhile, Eddie bickers with Milo, revealing their friendship ended when Milo sold their diner behind Eddie's back, forcing him into retirement. Traveling to a forest beyond the desert, the group crosses a series of rope bridges, while being attacked by a group of mandrills.

Successfully crossing the bridges, they are reunited with Alex, as his avatar Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough, and Bethany, who is now Cyclone, a black stallion who can only be understood by Finbar. As they rest from their battle with the mandrills, Eddie realizes Milo is terminally ill and wants to make amends before he dies, so they reconcile.

Working together, the group traverses Mt. Zhatmire and finds a river with the same glowing green water, allowing Spencer, Bethany, and Fridge to return in their original avatars Bravestone, Oberon, and Finbar again while Eddie and Milo respectively end up as Ming and Cyclone. Shortly after, Jurgen's men capture Eddie and Milo.

Spencer, Martha, Fridge, Bethany, and Alex split up to infiltrate the fortress, rescue their teammates and get the Falcon Heart. While scaling the ice wall, Martha asks Spencer why he left his old life and her, and he says her success made him insecure. She consoles him, reminding him we need friends when we feel scared and insecure.

There is another battle: Spencer pursues Jurgen to his airship while the others fight his henchmen. Realizing Jurgen is vulnerable to the Jumanji Berry, incapacitates him long enough for Spencer to steal the Falcon Heart necklace and send him plummeting to his death. He then gives Eddie the necklace, and he and Milo fly into the sky, letting the sunlight hit the necklace, restoring the magic and saving the game.

Returning the Falcon Heart to Nigel, Milo decides to stay behind and protect the land. Upon returning to the real world, Spencer teaches his grandfather about video games. Having gotten over his resentment, Eddie convinces Nora, the owner of his old diner, to hire him as a manager.

In a mid-credits scene, a repair man is brought in Spencer's house to repair the furnace, but notices the video game console. Shortly after, several animals stampede outside Nora's, catching the group's attention.

Production

Development

In February 2018, it was announced that Kasdan would direct the sequel, with Rosenberg and Pinkner again writing the script and Johnson, Hart, Black, and Gillan reprising their roles.

On February 22, 2019, Black confirmed the new film as being a fourth Jumanji film because of Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), serving as the second film and sharing continuity with the other films of the series, with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle serving as the third film. According to Kasdan the film used the working title J-19. In July 2019, the film's title was revealed as Jumanji: The Next Level.

Casting

In January 2019, Awkwafina, Danny DeVito, and Danny Glover joined the film. In February 2019, Alex Wolff, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, and Nick Jonas were announced to reprise their roles. In March 2019, Dania Ramirez joined the cast of the film. That same month, it was announced Rhys Darby would reprise his role in the film. In May 2019, it was announced Colin Hanks would reprise his role.

Filming

Filming began on January 21, 2019, and took place in Atlanta, New Mexico, Calgary, Fortress Mountain Resort, Algodones Dunes in California, and Hawaii before wrapping on May 11. Johnson made a reported $23.5 million for his role.

Music

Henry Jackman scored the film after having worked on Welcome to the Jungle.

Release/Reception/Box Office

In the United States and Canada, the film was released on December 13, 2019, in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, IMAX 3D, 4DX, and ScreenX formats. The movie was released on December 5, 2019, in China, Singapore, Malaysia, and several other Asian countries (and also in Czechia). In the Nordic countries and the Netherlands, the film premiered in cinemas on December 6, 2019. The film's Australian release date was December 26, 2019.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 246 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Like many classic games, Jumanji: The Next Level retains core components of what came before while adding enough fresh bits to keep things playable." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100 based on 37 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 average 3.5 out of 5 stars, with 58% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "More often than not, effects-driven blockbusters get dumber as the series goes along, but Jumanji: The Next Level invents some fun ideas to keep things fresh." Debruge calls Johnson's Danny DeVito impression "unintentionally hilarious", and is mildly critical of some of the off colour jokes, but concludes "The storytelling may be sloppy in parts, but the cast’s collective charisma more than compensates." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone is positive about the remixing of the characters has "major comedy benefits" and Travers welcomes the introduction of Awkwafina. He found the plot difficult to follow and not worth the effort, but says "What matters are the laughs and the FX". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote: "What gives Jumanji its likability is that it has the emphases and comedy beats of an animation, but also the performance technique of live action – and the occasional reshuffling of avatars and players lets the actors show off a little bit further. Jumanji’s next level is rather satisfying."

Jumanji: The Next Level grossed $320.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $479.7 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $800.1 million, against a production budget of about $125–132 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated that the net profit of the film was $236 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Black Christmas and Richard Jewell, and was projected to gross $45–55 million from 4,227 theatres in its opening weekend. The film made $19.7 million on its first day, including $4.7 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $59.3 million, topping the box office. It made $26.5 million in its second weekend, finishing second behind Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The following weekend the film made $35.3 million (a total of $59.2 million over the five-day Christmas period), then $26.5 million the next, remaining in second behind The Rise of Skywalker both times. After the COVID-19 pandemic, closed most theatres across the U.S. and Canada in March, the film continued to play at drive-ins during the following weeks; it made $217,800 in its 24th weekend and $186,800 in its 25th weekend. The film passed the $800 million mark worldwide on July 7, 2020, thanks to drive-in grosses in the U.S. and theaters re-opening in other countries.

Budget $125–132 million

Box office $800.1 million

My Review

When I heard about the new Jumanji movie, all I wanted was for them to duplicate the formula of the last one, but mix up the characters. It feels like they set it up perfectly for this simple idea, and laid the groundwork for nearly infinite sequels that all feel unique, even though they are the same at their core. All you need is to have new people enter the game and inhabit the same characters, and we get to see how the actors handle new challenges. I was grateful to see that Jumanji: The Next Level at least attempted to deliver on that potential. The personalities do bounce around a little and we are introduced to a couple new players, Danny DeVito and Danny Glover. This was where the majority of the comedy was added to the film. Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart have a lot of fun presenting themselves as old men, and I thought they did a reasonably good job with it. Also, the personal history between these characters brought the main storyline that worked in the film, because we need something more going on than just the video game in order to keep us emotionally invested.

I think where The Next Level fell short of the brilliance that so many of us found in Welcome to the Jungle is in the fact that they felt the need to bring back the same kids from the first movie. No one has long-lasting affection for Spencer or Bethany (if they even remember their names,) and frankly their problems were mostly resolved by the end of that film. It made no sense to use them again, and the writers had to reverse some of the growth they showed originally in order to justify their return to the game. I could see carrying over one experienced player, so you could shortcut some of the exposition and avoid all the aspects of learning how to play that were involved in Welcome to the Jungle, but that's all we needed. Make it fresh and new, with lots of external conflict that needs to be resolved in order to get them to work as a team so they can defeat the game. It seems so obvious, and yet they failed to see it. That being said, I still had a good time watching The Next Level. They found a bit of the magic from the prior movie, and earned some hearty laughs. It pales in comparison to what came before, but I still appreciate that they had moderate success.

Even though its central concept seems ever-so-slightly more strained this time, 'Jumanji: The Next Level' is about as good as its predecessor. In fact, it's sometimes even better. Basically, the flick is just fun. The crowd-pleasing body-swapping is amped up to eleven, shaking things up just enough so that they feel fresh. The main actors continue to properly impress in their chameleon-like roles, joined by a few extra treats that perform far better than you'd perhaps expect. Indeed, these new players are probably its biggest asset; a couple of them thoroughly perforate the entire experience despite only having a rather small amount of screen-time. The picture is often funny - though, never hilarious - and is oddly endearing, to boot. It isn't particularly deep or, even, memorable but it doesn't need to be. It's a good time at the movies; what more do you need? Obviously some better theming and, perhaps, a tad of nuance wouldn't go amiss, but it's just not that kind of film really and that's perfectly fine. Even if it doesn't impact you as much as some of the year's best, it'll certainly make you smile and keep you entertained for a couple of hours. Besides, its inciting incident is driven purely by character and it even manages to squeeze some genuine emotional connection, via a well-drawn dynamic between DeVito and Glover, into its otherwise otherworldly proceedings. Its acting is also deceptively simple but decidedly fantastic, fully immersing you in the idea that these major stars are actually four teenagers and two old men. Basically, it's not as simple as you might think. 7.7/10

{I didn't really like the villain as much though this time around... 😗🙁}

{But Cyclone was cool though 🐴}