If you loved actor Robin Williams, then you’ve heard of “Jumanji”. In the classic 90’s film Jumanji, Robin Williams’ character, Alan Parrish, finds a board game buried in the dirt of a construction site, which he then takes home and invites his friend Sarah Whittle to play until he is sucked into the game only to be released 23 years later. In 2017 a new movie was released titled, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which was a modern take on the 90’s film. It took the board game and made it into a game console cartridge. The movie ended with the main four characters rescuing a man who got stuck in the game and breaking the console and cartridge.
In the newest film, “Jumanji: The Next Level,” the four characters have graduated high school and are now going to college. Fridge, Spencer, Martha and Bethany, the main characters, try to make plans to meet up during a break from college, however, Spencer never makes it to the brunch, when the three friends go to look for Spencer, they discover that he has fixed the game and got sucked in once more.
The movie all in all was pretty enjoyable, however, there were, of course, problems. In the film Spencer’s grandfather and his friend get sucked into the game with the rest of the kids, leaving Bethany, one of the original four, behind. The concept was a good one, and for the most part, it was greatly portrayed, however, once Bethany gets help and brings back the old pilot, she is turned into a horse, later on in the movie it explains why the horse is important, but it just doesn’t add what they wanted it to add which was an emotional ending.
The chemistry between characters shined brightly in this film. You could really tell that the actors are kind and always bonding behind scenes. A lot of the film was carried by the relationships between actors, and it really helped the audience to understand just how passionate they were about acting with their friends.
The jokes and actors were perfectly selected, of course, but it was a bit too convenient when they “switchback” to their original playable characters, after being placed into the wrong ones. A random lake from a town back in one of the older levels, suddenly conveniently appears after an argument over “playing” the characters correctly? Of course, it was so everything worked out in the end, but it could have all been much more sudden.
Towards the end of the film, all the empty holes were filled and it ended up being a pretty good movie. The moral of the ending was honestly a lovely one, and the actors did amazing. I highly recommend going to see Jumanji: The Next Level, if you liked the first two, then you will definitely like this one, it hit all the nostalgia points, and if you haven’t seen the first one, come on, go rent them and have a movie night with your friends, it’s worth it.
