KEITH on Reels

The sequel to 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle that is a reboot of the 1995 movie Jumanji starring Robin Williams, Jumanji: The Next Level is a very entertaining and fun adventure movie that relies on recapturing the magic of the 2017 version of the Jumanji franchise, with its creative plot and funny characters. Like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the same group of now college-age students find themselves sucked into the video game Jumanji after realizing that the nerd in the group Spencer has possibly entered the game by himself. However, some of the characters become different avatars in the video game, as well as the addition of two new characters of Spencer’s grandfather Eddie, played by Danny DeVito, and Eddie’s old friend Milo, played by Danny Glover. Due to all of their hilarious surprise, the grumpy Eddie becomes the strong archaeologist and explorer Dr. Smolder Bravestone, played by Dwayne Johnson, the slow talking Milo becomes the scrawny and squeamish zoologist and weapons valet Franklin “Mouse” Finbar, played by the hyperactive comedian Kevin Hart, the popular jock “Fridge” becomes the obese middle-aged archaeologist and cartographer Professor Sheldon “Shelly” Oberon, hilariously played by Jack Black, and the shy unpopular girl Martha remains the attractive commando and martial artist Ruby Roundhouse, played by Karen Gillan. While searching for Spencer in the Jumanji world, they are given a new mission that must be completed to return to the real world: retrieve the Falcon’s Heart jewel from the powerful villain Jurgen the Brutal, played by Rory McCann best known as The Hound in the HBO TV series Game of Thrones. Eventually, the very mismatched group reunite with the beautiful popular girl Bethany who was left behind but found her way back into the game as a horse named Cyclone with help from the pilot and adventurer Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough, played by Nick Jonas. They also finally discover Spencer as a new and rather unexpected avatar and says he wanted to re-enter Jumanji because he feels out of place in the real world and estranged from his friends, especially Martha after they started a long-distance romantic relationship. Extremely similar to the previous installment, the film uses the effectively fun formula of creating eccentric characters who find themselves in rather hilarious situations dealing with their new bodies as they embark on a dangerous adventure. Overall, I found it to be a highly entertaining blockbuster movie that may have recycled the same premise as the previous movie but did so in a way that did not lessen the audience’s enjoyment and was helped by the addition of Danny DeVito and Danny Glover.