Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle: Review

• This is NON-Spoiler review for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

• Plot Summary: "Four high school kids discover an old video game console and are drawn into the game's jungle setting, literally becoming the adult avatars they chose. What they discover is that you don't just play Jumanji - you must survive it. To beat the game and return to the real world, they'll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, discover what Alan Parrish left 20 years ago, and change the way they think about themselves - or they'll be stuck in the game forever."

• I really like the original Jumanji. I think it's a really fun mysterious and creepy adventure movie. And I'm a gigantic Robin Williams fan. So when I heard they were going to do another movie, I thought that it could be really interesting especially since the CGI is extremely dated in the original. Then I heard The Rock and Kevin Hart were both cast, which told me exactly what type of movie this was going to be. A dumb action comedy starring The Rock is not the kind of tone that I wanted for a new Jumanji movie. But I got interested when I saw the trailer. Because that trailer was really funny. Jack Black as you're cliche teenage girl was hilarious to me. So I was looking forward to this even though it's not what I wanted and despite the fact that I think you really didn't need to call this Jumanji at all. They could have just taken the concept and made it their own thing. In the words of Michael Keaton "Franchise! Franchise! Franchise!"

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• I enjoyed this movie. I did not get as much enjoyment out of it as I did watching the trailer for the first time. I think the problem with a lot of comedies is that they come up with a really funny premise, but then they have to make an entire movie out of it. And by the end the comedy is tired or they just drop it completely. I think this movie is saved a little bit because it has the action to fall back on. So the really funny premise of the kids becoming these movie stars doesn't carry the entire movie. But don't get me wrong, there are quite a few really good comedy scenes in this movie, at least for my taste. There are quite a few more really funny Kevin Hart and ‪Jack Black‬ scenes. But for me, my first experience with the trailer was better than seeing the actual movie. Makes me think that this could have just been an SNL sketch. I thought all the main cast did great with the comedy. There's more character development that I really wanted from a dumb action comedy like this. All the main characters have pretty predictable arcs and connections. I would have just rathered more comedy. I was not a fan of ‪Nick Jonas‬ in this movie. I thought his character wasn't written well at all and he should either take an acting class or stick to music. And the villain was horrible. This is the worst villain of the year. Welcome to cliche villain writing and acting 101.

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• If you're a fan of video games with story campaigns, I think you'll find some scenes enjoyable. And I think if you're bored and looking for a fun light-hearted comedy to go see, then give Jumanji a shot. It's not the best comedy of all time by any means. There's good comedy spread throughout most of the movie and some action. People in my theater were laughing pretty hard at the best scenes. I do warn you, If you're part of a family that's planning on seeing Jumanji, I'd check the parent's guide first. There were a few raunchy jokes that I think families should look into first. I don't think Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is an essential movie to see by any means. But I think that this movie would be fine to just check out on Netflix. My grade for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is an B-