As a huge fan of the 1995 classic Jumanji starring Robin Williams, This Chick was pretty excited when she originally heard about the possible continuation of the series. Jumanji was a story that both captivated and inspired my childhood for years, but was also the source of much horror as well. This movie had it all, a great cast made up of both accomplished actors and the next generation of young stars (well, one at least), all of whom held their own. It had a story that kept the audience captivated without selling to any specific ages, and twenty- two years later is as fresh as when it was released.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. Don’t cry, it’s going to be okay.”

This film boasts some pretty big names and each performance truly exemplifies their A-list status. Dwayne Johnson (also Alex Wolff) is Dr. Smolder Bravestone who has no weaknesses and specializes in being a total badass in the game. In reality he’s a nerdy kid who has some serious issues with allergies and shyness. Jack Black (also Madison Iseman) is a popular girl more interested in selfies than existing in the real world. She gets stuck as Professor Oberon, an overweight cartographer. Kevin Hart (also Ser’Darius Blain) the jock of the group, becomes “Mouse” Finbar, whose only abilities include zooology and a backpack. Karen Gillian (also Morgan Turner) is a shy girl with no chill. She becomes Ruby Roundhouse, a sexy ass-kicker. Lastly, Nick Jones (also Mason Guccione) shows up as a boy sucked into the game in 1996 who never returned. He’s been playing “Seaplane” McDonough, a cocky pilot with a deathly allergy to mosquitoes, for 20 years.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has a pretty basic setup, four kids are all given detention and end up stumbling on an old, seemingly brandless game console from the 90s. All four decide to play to escape the mind numbing detention duties and quickly get sucked into the game after picking their characters. As each fall into their new role they discover their powers and weaknesses. Soon after they meet Nigel (Rhys Darby), an NPC who explains the goal of the game with pre-programmed speeches, and how to beat Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale), the game’s “end boss,” an evil explorer trying to control the powers of the jungle through a stone called the “Jaguar’s Eye” which allows him to control all animals in the jungle.

“If you wish to leave the game, you must save Jumanji and call out its name.”

Their are a lot of great things about Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. The cast, despite being diverse in age and star power work great off each other and really are the heart of the movie with the plot and setting only acting as backdrop for them to play off each other. The CGI is what you would expect for a movie of this type, but it’s also sometimes quite beautiful. Every scene has lush jungle and animals, and of course the Rock is pretty much in every scene making it even prettier. In my opinion the biggest drawback in this film is the villain Van Pelt, who sadly doesn’t have a lot to work with. The lines and dialogue between him and his men are pretty cookie cutter, but despite lazy writing Cannavale does his best to make the audience interested. To his credit, it almost works, considering he’s a video game character, with pre-programmed behaviour and mannerisms. So, we’ll cut some slack and assume it was intentional.

Now let’s be real here, this is not really a Jumanji movie. Is it fun and entertaining? Yes. Does it Captivate? Sure. Is it original? No. But it’s got a great cast, some funny moments (despite some editing issues hurting the punchlines), a simple but interesting story and some serviceable CGI. However, this was clearly not originally written to be a follow up to Jumanji, and while they did their best to add in a couple lines and scenes to link the two, this was clearly intended as an original IP. That said, it’s worth a watch for fans of the original, and is a perfectly enjoyable popcorn flick over the holidays.

This Chick Scores: 6.5/10