But that's barely saying anything, 'cause video game movies have a weird tendency to be really sh***y. Thankfully, Jumanji video game movie was better than I expected.
I don't have that much memories of the original besides scaring me as a kid, so this review is not fan-based. The trailers for this one didn't grab me, but because I'm spending time in Utah with family members over Christmas break we decided to see Welcome to the Jungle. Overall it's a fine, fun bit of fluff that probably won't stick with your memory for very long. The film had some clever gags about video games and their levels and how an AI character repeat the same sentences unless you say something important. The action is serviceable. The cast has a lot of chemistry, and Jack Black nails it in every scene he's in. Even if the Instagram-obsessed girl with no phone joke gets old fast. Kevin Heart annoys me, and this didn't change my mind. :-\
The story is pretty simple: make it outta the game by returning this to that and beat all the levels. It's a pretty fun concept, and the film does have it's creative moments. But the humor is a mixed-bag. Sometimes it's funny, and sometimes it's childish and pays out far too long. There are some decent character moments, but overall there's not much emotional investment or stakes. It's just like a video game: it doesn't focus on character development too much, just making it to the next obstacle. And for that alone, it's exciting and entertaining enough.
Maybe I'm missing out some of the fun when picking all these flaws, but I do know that Welcome to the Jungle was fine far what it is. It's amusing, sometimes funny, at times creative and always action-packed. It doesn't want to be a masterpiece and never tries to reach beyond what it is. I smiled, but quickly forgot about a lot of scenes. Maybe I'm too snobbish to enjoy anything, but can we at least agree that this was one of Sony's best films of 2017?! I mean, they've made Emoji Movie which felt more like a dull advertisement than anything else. At least this didn't feel like a full-on cash-grab.
5.5 or 6/10.
I don't have that much memories of the original besides scaring me as a kid, so this review is not fan-based. The trailers for this one didn't grab me, but because I'm spending time in Utah with family members over Christmas break we decided to see Welcome to the Jungle. Overall it's a fine, fun bit of fluff that probably won't stick with your memory for very long. The film had some clever gags about video games and their levels and how an AI character repeat the same sentences unless you say something important. The action is serviceable. The cast has a lot of chemistry, and Jack Black nails it in every scene he's in. Even if the Instagram-obsessed girl with no phone joke gets old fast. Kevin Heart annoys me, and this didn't change my mind. :-\
The story is pretty simple: make it outta the game by returning this to that and beat all the levels. It's a pretty fun concept, and the film does have it's creative moments. But the humor is a mixed-bag. Sometimes it's funny, and sometimes it's childish and pays out far too long. There are some decent character moments, but overall there's not much emotional investment or stakes. It's just like a video game: it doesn't focus on character development too much, just making it to the next obstacle. And for that alone, it's exciting and entertaining enough.
Maybe I'm missing out some of the fun when picking all these flaws, but I do know that Welcome to the Jungle was fine far what it is. It's amusing, sometimes funny, at times creative and always action-packed. It doesn't want to be a masterpiece and never tries to reach beyond what it is. I smiled, but quickly forgot about a lot of scenes. Maybe I'm too snobbish to enjoy anything, but can we at least agree that this was one of Sony's best films of 2017?! I mean, they've made Emoji Movie which felt more like a dull advertisement than anything else. At least this didn't feel like a full-on cash-grab.
5.5 or 6/10.