Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2017)

[Kromm]

My opinion based on this trailer?  Somebody really didn't understand what the original movie was about and just fixated on reusing the name and the approximate circumstances.

This seems like the very essence of a cash grab. Scoop the heart out of the original and... put The Rock in it instead. Mind you, Jumanji was never a work of genius to begin with. It's unofficial sequel Zathura was better. But at least Jumanji had an emotional center to it. This? Well, maybe it's got one and it's just hidden by a really poor trailer.  I mean I guess there are some "ha-ha funny" jokes based around their physical transformations, but otherwise this looks so horribly generic.

Edited July 4, 2017 by Kromm

[Morrigan2575]

I hated that trailer, it looked so lame. 

[Spartan Girl]

You cannot do a Jumanji movie without Robin Williams.

[Lugal]

I like the Rock and Karen Gillan, but it feels like they tacked the Jumanji name on for the cash grab.  That and I can't help but notice that they were standing in the same valley where the dinosaurs chased Sam Neill and the kids in the original Jurassic Park.

2 hours ago, Kromm said:

Mind you, Jumanji was never a work of genius to begin with. It's unofficial sequel Zathura was better.

I also thought Zathura was the better of the two, but it didn't have the star power of Robin Williams.

[VCRTracking]

I'm glad Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt's characters got a happy ending so I don't mind them not being in the movie. If I were to see this movie the selling point would be the Rock acting like a dweeb and Karen Gillan kicking ass(without being bald and blue makeup this time).

[Spartan Girl]

Jumanji didn't need a reboot or sequel, period.

[paulvdb]

On 5-7-2017 at 2:35 AM, Lugal said:

I also thought Zathura was the better of the two, but it didn't have the star power of Robin Williams.

It did have Kristen Stewart and Josh Hutcherson before they became famous with Twilight and The Hunger Games.

I had mentioned in another topic around here that I thought Jumanji was better, but that was many years after I watched them. I recently rewatched them and now I agree that Zathura was better.

Edited July 8, 2017 by paulvdb

[Artsda]

It seems like Breakfast Club highschool drama meets an action movie. Doesn't look like Jumanji at all. 

It'll end with them going back to the original bodies and being BFF's.  

[nilyank]

24 minutes ago, Artsda said:

t seems like Breakfast Club highschool drama meets an action movie. Doesn't look like Jumanji at all. 

When the preview started, I was actually getting upset that they were remaking Breakfast Club but when they mentioned Jumanji, I was totally indifferent. Now a remake of Zathura would be something different.

[Amethyst]

On 7/4/2017 at 4:34 PM, Kromm said:

My opinion based on this trailer?  Somebody really didn't understand what the original movie was about and just fixated on reusing the name and the approximate circumstances.

MTE.  Isn't the whole point of Jumanji was that the game brings the horrors of the jungle to our doorstep?  Otherwise, it's just another generic action flick set in the jungle...which is pretty much what this looks like.

I'm not surprised that they would update it (like a video game instead of a board game) but this just looks disappointing.

[Artsda]

Exactly, I can get the game being updated with the console game but then the entire game should be played out in the school. Like the original game played out with them running all over the house.

Edited July 9, 2017 by Artsda

[BetterButter]

[WritinMan]

Looks entertaining to me, but I don't really have any loyalty to the original movie. I thought it was OK at best.

[ApathyMonger]

Just out of the movie. Better than I expected!

The early stuff setting up the characters pre-jungle falls completely flat, but once they got to Johnson, Hart, Gillan, and Black I really enjoyed it.

The actual plot is fairly weak, but that's somewhat excusable as it's supposed to be the plot to a video game from 1996. Bobby Cannavale doesn't get much to do, but he seems to be having fun hamming it up as the villain.

It's not a classic, but it's much more enjoyable than most of Kasdan, Johnson, Black, and Hart's other recent movies. The main cast are all great, I laughed a bunch, and it didn't feel too long.

[Hybridcookie]

Yeah I liked this a lot more than I was expecting. Honestly, after seeing the trailer about 500 times (I work at a cinema) I wasn't expecting much, but it was actually quite good. I thought all the actors did well emulating each other as the real version/game character. It had more heart than I thought it would

[BetterButter]

[methodwriter85]

I enjoyed it. I like the idea that the game adapts itself to whatever will lure someone in. And Nick Jonas did a great job with his reaction to learning he has been in the game for 20 years. I was kind of hoping that the 1996 Alex could go to the present but they kept it to the rules of the original Jumangi.

[thuganomics85]

I had more fun then I expected as well.  Not high art and the jokes were certainly obvious ("Watch the masculine Dwayne Johnson have panic attacks and get scared easily!  Watch the sexy Karen Gillian be awkward and aloof about her body!  See Jack Black act like a teenage girl!"), but still got some decent laughs out of me.  Although, unlike the rest, I really never felt like Kevin Hart did anything different from his normal stuff.  Still got laughs out of me, but he never felt like a football jock in Kevin Hart's body, but just Kevin Hart being his normal Kevin Hart self.

Still, I thought all four of the leads worked well together.  Dwayne was back to his charismatic self after his misfire with Baywatch and there really is a sense that he and Kevin love working with one another.  This was probably the most I enjoyed a Jack Black performance since Tropic Thunder.  And while I clearly know that the main purpose of her outfit was for eye-candy reasons, Karen Gillian still looked great here, but more importantly, I thought she had great comedic timing and more then held her own.  I hope this opens up more doors for her, because she's obviously been in big stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy, I suspect a lot of causal moviegoers still don't know who she is (unless their Doctor Who fans, of course.)

The actors playing the teenagers were fine (recognized Spencer from Patriot's Day), but my favorite stuff was seeing all the recognizable comedians pop up in adult roles like Marc Evan Jackson, Maribeth Monroe, and Missi Pyle.  And, of course, Tim Matheson and Colin Hanks at the end.

Nick Jonas was fine, I guess, but I wasn't wild about him or his role.  I kept getting the sense that the role really should gone to someone more along the lines of Chris Pine or one of the Hemsworth brothers (even Liam!)

The action was entertaining enough, even if was basically the average CGI animal spectacles.  Enjoyed the fight scenes with Dwayne (he even got to do a Rock Bottom!), and Karen and her "dance fighting."

Bobby Cannavale seemed to be auditioning for a Bond villain here.  And not a current one either: more like a Roger Moore-era one.

While it was obvious why we couldn't get any cameos from Alan due to Robin Williams' passing, I was surprised they didn't try to get Kirsten Dunst to show up for a cameo.

Again, not the best of the year, but it was a pleasant and fun way to past the time.

[MsNewsradio]

My friends and I went to see this and had very low expectations...we’d initially had no interest when the film was first announced, but the trailers actually made us laugh and so we figured it would be a nice, silly, girls night out sort of thing. 

 

We loved it. Had a wonderful time, thought everyone did a great job. Bobby’s character had the least dimension, but did he really need much, esp. for a video game villain? Lots of laughs for us and some genuinely tense moments with the various wildlife (why did it have to be snakes?). Will definitely see it again at some point. This may also mark the first time I’ve ever cared about a Jonas brother in anything, lol. 

[methodwriter85]

17 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

While it was obvious why we couldn't get any cameos from Alan due to Robin Williams' passing, I was surprised they didn't try to get Kirsten Dunst to show up for a cameo.

Again, not the best of the year, but it was a pleasant and fun way to past the time.

I would have loved if she had been the teacher that busts Bethany for being on her phone during the quiz. That would have been a great cameo for her.

Seeing Colin Hanks reminded me that there was a time when people were trying to make him a thing. I'm kind of shocked him and Bryce Dallas Howard have never played a couple in a movie or t.v. show. (Although to be honest, Bryce has had a much better career.)

[Silver Raven]

Did Colin Hanks really not get a credit?

I had a lot of fun with this.  Jack Black stole the movie from Kevin Hart, something that's hard to do.  A fluff, but a fun fluff.

Quote

Nick Jonas was fine, I guess, but I wasn't wild about him or his role.  I kept getting the sense that the role really should gone to someone more along the lines of Chris Pine or one of the Hemsworth brothers (even Liam!)

None of those would have made sense for Brittany to get a crush on.

[methodwriter85]

On 12/23/2017 at 11:24 PM, Silver Raven said:

Did Colin Hanks really not get a credit?

I had a lot of fun with this.  Jack Black stole the movie from Kevin Hart, something that's hard to do.  A fluff, but a fun fluff.

None of those would have made sense for Brittany to get a crush on.

Her name was actually Bethany, but yeah. Maaaaayyybbbbe Liam, but yeah, there's a reason why Nick Jonas was a teen idol.

[caracas1914]

I think the comedy bits is the key element why it works this time around.   The Bethany character as Professor Shelly reactions about being turned into a male works the best, not so much horrified but weirdly fascinated.

Jack Black does his best work in years IMO, and the Rock has surprisingly good comic timing.

Pleasantly surprised but already jaded about it knowing that it’s been apparently already successful enough that a franchise has been launched with probably diminishing returns.

[Danny Franks]

So this was a fun movie. It's not going to win any awards, it's not going to redefine cinema, but it's enjoyable and a great way to spend a couple of hours without thinking. 

I like Dwayne Johnson, and he was perfectly cast here. A huge, handsome, alpha-as-fuck dude, who is also funny and goofy. It's a role tailor-made for him. The jokes about his incredible physique didn't get old, nor did the jokes about the size difference between him and Kevin Hart. Who is a guy I can only take in small doses (no pun intended), so it's good that he was definitely the sidekick.

Someone else I can only take in small doses is Jack Black, but this is the most enjoyable I've ever found him, because he was playing against his usual shtick, and the conceit of him actually being a shallow, pretty girl was fun. As were the jokes about having a penis. "This is so much easier! You have a handle!"

I really loved Karen Gillan. Yes I was ogling her (not even sorry), and she looked incredible, but she was convincing when playing the nerdy, unsure, introvert. And even more convincing as the badass dance-fighter. From the first promo images, eyebrows were raised about the eye candy nature of the character, but I enjoyed the joke that the sole female character in the game was a skimpily attired sexbomb. Because that is so true of videogames, particularly in the 90s (Street Fighter 2, Streets of Rage, Mortal Kombat). She's making some good career choices, to get her name into the public consciousness, and I hope her career keeps growing.

The four kids were all good, and all played very obvious stereotypes with at least a little nuance. And yes, I did enjoy the ending, with them all becoming friends. And the reveal that the Jonas brother was now Colin Hanks.

[RedFire2000]

On 12/21/2017 at 7:59 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Nick Jonas was fine, I guess, but I wasn't wild about him or his role.  I kept getting the sense that the role really should gone to someone more along the lines of Chris Pine or one of the Hemsworth brothers (even Liam!)

Tom Holland was originally cast in Nick Jonas's role, but had to drop out of the film due to schedule conflicts with filming Spider-Man: Homecoming.

[methodwriter85]

19 hours ago, RedFire2000 said:

Tom Holland was originally cast in Nick Jonas's role, but had to drop out of the film due to schedule conflicts with filming Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Yeah, no. I couldn't have seen that one. Now that is a guy who would be aptly be called Mouse.

I think the vibe they were going for in Nick Jonas's character was Tom Cruise in Top Gun, not like some rugged, experienced 30-something/40-something swashbuckler.

Quote

Pleasantly surprised but already jaded about it knowing that it’s been apparently already successful enough that a franchise has been launched with probably diminishing returns.

The conceit they set up here- that Jumanji basically will change itself to appeal to whoever it wants to appeal to- is pretty fucking brilliant. It'll give them a lot of versatility in future movies.

Edited December 30, 2017 by methodwriter85

[announcergirl]

I thought it was fun. The fiancé and I are both 47 and we laughed the entire movie. His negative comment was that Fridge did not have a similar personality to Kevin Hart unlike the other kids whose game avatars acted similarly to their real life personas. My comment was how complicated the ending was with the time travel aspect. The neighboors were to pretend Freak House wasn't run down the day before? Maybe it's just me.

[Ceindreadh]

19 hours ago, announcergirl said:

I thought it was fun. The fiancé and I are both 47 and we laughed the entire movie. His negative comment was that Fridge did not have a similar personality to Kevin Hart unlike the other kids whose game avatars acted similarly to their real life personas. My comment was how complicated the ending was with the time travel aspect. The neighboors were to pretend Freak House wasn't run down the day before? Maybe it's just me.

I think the only people who will remember what the Freak House used to look like are going to be the four kids that were in the game.  For everybody else, the kid never disappeared so the house never got run down. 

[ramble]

This was stupid and goofy. I expected nothing less and still enjoyed the stuffing out of it. I’ve stopped being surprised at how charming and funny I find Dwayne Johnson. He just works for me even though he shouldn’t. Everyone else felt like a good fit to me too. The Jonas kid didn’t even bother me. My kiddos and I saw this in a full theater and people were laughing out loud and appeared to be having a ball. 

[Artsda]

I enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to. 

[Dee]

‘Jumanji’s Got Game As It Closes In On $500M Worldwide Box Office

[methodwriter85]

On 12/31/2017 at 9:07 PM, ramble said:

 The Jonas kid didn’t even bother me.

There was something pretty touching and very "lost little boy" when Alex/Seaplane realizes that he's been in the game for 20 years. The fact that it was being played by a 25-year old guy who can still pass for 18/19 even with a beard kind made that all of the more poignant. I just wanted to give that poor boy a hug.

[Bruinsfan]

I had a blast watching it. Jack Black was surprisingly good (he can go either way for me), and even Kevin Hart wasn't able to spoil the movie.

[dusang]

I saw this on Friday and had reasonable hopes for enjoying it -- I was still surprised at how much I enjoyed it!  Jack Black worked so well -- he gets not one but TWO good dick jokes in, for goodness sake!

I'm not going to kill myself over the logistics of the time travel -- in the original Jumanji Robin Williams & Bonnie Hunt return to the start of their game and end up, presumably, preventing Kirsten Dunst and her brother from ever starting their game, thus creating a crazy causality loop if you really think about it.  So by Colin Hanks returning, there's a causality loop that in how did the game end up in the high school basement in either timeline? But I'm not going to think about it.

[Lugal]

Just saw it and it was good. Jack Black stole every scene he was in, and Dwayne Johnson has some range and pretty descent comic timing.  Karen Gillan was awesome and I loved her whole nerdy girl/awkward sexbomb thing, although when she used the smokey voice before beating up the guards made me think of Nebula.  And the kiss was hilarious.  Kevin Hart was the weakest for me, but I didn't mind him.

The time travel thing was handled here better than the first Jumanji, as I assume Alex donated the game to the school after he got out to make sure they others found it and were able to get him out.  I really liked the little tribute to Robin Williams' character from the first one.

On 1/6/2018 at 8:32 PM, Dee said:

‘Jumanji’s Got Game As It Closes In On $500M Worldwide Box Office

With that kind of money it means we'll probably see a sequel, which I admit, I would not mind seeing Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, and Kevin Hart back and they could play four completely different kids.

And it was kind of a mini-Good Place reunion with Shawn and Mindy St. Claire showing up.

Edited January 21, 2018 by Lugal

[methodwriter85]

On 1/8/2018 at 0:10 PM, Bruinsfan said:

I had a blast watching it. Jack Black was surprisingly good (he can go either way for me), and even Kevin Hart wasn't able to spoil the movie.

I appreciated that Jack Black played Bethany as a teen girl, and not as a stereotypical gay guy. (Which is the acting choice that Rob Schneider made for The Hot Chick, where he was also playing a teen girl trapped in the body of a grown man. He TOTALLY played that character like a flaming gay guy, though.)

[VCRTracking]

On 1/20/2018 at 6:54 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I appreciated that Jack Black played Bethany as a teen girl, and not as a stereotypical gay guy. (Which is the acting choice that Rob Schneider made for The Hot Chick, where he was also playing a teen girl trapped in the body of a grown man. He TOTALLY played that character like a flaming gay guy, though.)

Which is probably why he wasn't one of the main Gap Girls on SNL! David Spade or Adam Sandler could have played a teen girl much better.

Not surprising since it was one of Sony's biggest hits in the past couple of years:

Sounds Like JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE’s Getting A Sequel

I'm thinking either new teens in the avatar bodies or maybe the old teens meeting the actual characters they played would be good ideas.

[methodwriter85]

4 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Which is probably why he wasn't one of the main Gap Girls on SNL! David Spade or Adam Sandler could have played a teen girl much better.

Not surprising since it was one of Sony's biggest hits in the past couple of years:

Sounds Like JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE’s Getting A Sequel

I'm thinking either new teens in the avatar bodies or maybe the old teens meeting the actual characters they played would be good ideas.

They could go a Last Action Hero route, where the actual characters get to go into the real world. I feel like that movie was totally ahead of it's time and a version of the concept could work now.

Edited January 25, 2018 by methodwriter85

[Chyromaniac]

6 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

They could go a Last Action Hero route, where the actual characters get to go into the real world. I feel like that movie was totally ahead of it's time and a version of the concept could work now.

So... like Jumanji? ?

[raven]

"Martha, come look at my penis!"  "Zoology, bitch!"  "Smouldering"  "Did she hurt her ankle, does she have a bug in her hair" (when Martha is trying flirt)

Yeah, this was fun.  Johnson, Gillan, Black and Hart seem to have the ability to laugh at themselves, which is perfect for this movie.  Dwayne Johnson has good comic timing and even though they were the obvious jokes, I laughed every time he was scared of something or worried about getting sick.  They played well off of each other.  Jack Black did steal every scene was in; I never forgot that was really Bethany in there and I could picture a teen girl in every gesture.

Their younger counterparts didn't have as much to do but were fine in their roles.

On 1/7/2018 at 12:23 AM, methodwriter85 said:

There was something pretty touching and very "lost little boy" when Alex/Seaplane realizes that he's been in the game for 20 years.

This is a good way of putting it.  He's introduced by saving the group and then becomes more unsure the longer they play the game; I was glad they stuck to him going back to his original timeline.

I also liked the little shout out to Alan Parrish.

Just a good time at the movies.

[BetterButter]

[Spartan Girl]

The Honest Trailer finally convinced me to watch it. And like the rest of you, I can't believe how fun it turned out to be. How is it possible that a sequel/reboot that no one wanted and looked so stupid in the trailer turned out to be...good?

I have to admit that I liked that it wasn't as dark as the original. Loved the reference to Robin/Alan, but I can't help wondering if he would have cameos if he were still alive. 

Loved when they heard the drums at the end and immediately destroy the game. Heh. Too bad no one ever thought of doing that in the original.

[Dee]

How ‘Jumanji’ Conquered ‘Spider-Man’ To Become Sony’s Highest-Grossing Film Ever At The U.S. Box Office

Quote

Sony’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is officially the studio’s highest-grossing film ever at the domestic box office, overtaking Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man ($403.7 million) which has owned the title for the past 16 years.

Heading into the holiday season, executives across distribution and film finance had a strong feeling that this reboot of Jumanji directed by Jake Kasdan would serve as strong counter-programming to Disney’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The pic opened to $71.9 million over the six-day holiday and by the first weekend of January stole the No. 1 spot from the Rian Johnson sequel for four weekends out of its run.

But really, nobody was expecting a near billion-dollar global haul (No. 2 worldwide for Sony at $951M after Skyfall‘s $1.1 billion) nor a domestic take this high in the end. As Deadline already reported, our finance sources informed us that Jumanji will bring an estimated $305.7M in profit after all ancillaries back to Sony.

Stateside, Jumanji is already the highest-grossing film for Kasdan, and all of its stars too: Dwayne Johnson (beating his Fast and the Furious canon), Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan (besting her Guardians of the Galaxy pics). While many in the industry like to cry that the star system no longer works, here’s a quintessential pairing of talent and material, with the skinny kid in the movie morphing into Johnson, the beautiful odd girl winding up as Black, and the muscular Jock turning into short wisenheimer Hart. More proof that the star system isn’t entirely dead: With 300 million-plus followers on social media between Johnson and Hart, wherever they order their fans to go, they’re there, and they went to Jumanji.

Even more jaw-dropping is that in an age when Marvel superhero movies and Star Wars pics rule, here comes a dormant franchise originally inspired from Chris Van Allsburg’s 1981 Caldecott-winning picture book and the 1995 Robin Williams TriStar movie, which completely takes off. If revisionist angles on dusty classics like King Arthur and Peter Pan can’t pop at the box office, then why did this Jumanji reboot work? 

“It’s not the IP, it’s the ‘I’ — the idea,” Sony Pictures Entertainment Group chairman Tom Rothman explains about the success of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. “Before the obsession grew with known properties only, big ideas are what powered big movies.”

Edited April 11, 2018 by Dee

[Danny Franks]

It's crazy how much money this movie made. Especially given the scepticism about it before it was released (remember how horrified people were at the initial promo pics?). The Rock seems to be bullet proof at the box office at the moment, but what I really hope is that this (and her role in the Marvel movies) serves as a real launching pad for Karen Gillan. She can do comedy with the best of them, and has shown she can do action too. 

[ChelseaNH]

Finally got around to renting this and I agree with the popular opinion:  enjoyable and well-made, if predictable, and kudos to Jack Black for his performance.

I didn't see the original, and I can't say that I need to see a sequel to this.  If it's as well-made, then sure, but I'm not holding my breath for the next installment.

[Hanahope]

On 4/8/2018 at 6:22 PM, Spartan Girl said:

I have to admit that I liked that it wasn't as dark as the original. Loved the reference to Robin/Alan, but I can't help wondering if he would have cameos if he were still alive. 

Loved when they heard the drums at the end and immediately destroy the game. Heh. Too bad no one ever thought of doing that in the original.

Watched both the original and sequel this weekend.

I don't think it was necessary to have cameos from the first movie, I don't think the town from Welcome to the Jungle was the same as the first movie (Bradford I believe).  At the end of the first movie, Alan and Sarah have weighted the game down with bricks and dumped it into the water in 1967, which apparently went out to the ocean and some kids, who did not speak English (French I believe), are presumed to have found it on the beach.  I suppose we are to assume that after those kids play it, and survive, they do the same. and so on until it eventually finds its way to the beach where Alex's dad finds it in 1996.

The other interesting difference is that in the original movie, after the group finishes the game, it sends Alan and Sarah back to 1967 and the two younger kids, when we meet them again 25 years later, have no memory of the event.

but in the sequel, even though we know Alex returned to 1996 (and who knows what he did with the game), we see the view point from the high schoolers, who do remember the event.  So why is it different?  Is it because the format of the game changed and it would have been impossible for Alex to complete the game solo, so it had to wait for more to play to even have a chance of finishing (unlike the first movie, where if Sarah had continued on, Alan probably would have returned at some point and even with just 2 people, they might have been able to finish the game).

[rmontro]

I've only watched half of this movie so far.  My expectations from the trailer are fairly low.  So far they're being met.  But I wanted to post to say:

I knew Karen Gillian was an attractive woman, but I had no idea she was this hot.  There's something about a girl running around the jungle in shorts...

It's nice that they made her "teenage" character the nice one, instead of the stereotypical entitled princess popular girl.  One of my pet peeves though, is when they take an obviously attractive girl, and write her character as if she were homely.  

[WritinMan]

I recently caught this on Starz. It was...OK. Some decent laughs, but the movie was largely carried by the Rock's considerable on-screen charisma.

[ChelseaNH]

On 5/22/2018 at 1:05 PM, Hanahope said:

the two younger kids, when we meet them again 25 years later, have no memory of the event.

I managed to see this a while back, and my impression was that Judy and Peter did remember the game.  They certainly seemed more interested in Alan and Sarah than kids meeting their father's boss would be.

[Mabinogia]

Just watched it. It was better than I thought it would be. Didn't care for the teens at all, but it was fun once they entered the game. Not clamoring for a sequel or anything, but it wasn't a waste of an hour or so. It was fun.