Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle offers a classic reboot for the video game generation

Movie Title: Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle

Grade: B+

Rating: PG-13, 112 minutes

In a Nutshell: This fun franchise is still alive and entertaining audiences! Start with a cast of fresh faces and add in a hefty serving of Dwayne, The Rock, Johnson, with a half pint of Kevin Hart and a good dose of Jack Black and you get an entertaining third movie.

It pays respectful tribute to the popular first Jumanji movie, which I loved, and offers a video game twist with a soulful lesson for the young video game generation. Dwayne Johnson explained that it’s not really a reboot, but a sequel to the original movie and a tribute to the wonderful Robin Williams. There is a scene where the characters get to Seaplane McDonough’s camp with Robin Williams’ character’s name on it: Alan Parrish. Sweet. I sure miss Robin Williams and love that they tried to honor him with this movie.

Tips for parents:

Young children won’t understand a lot of the subtle references to other movies, but they’ll still really enjoy this one.
The bad news is that some of the teens drink alcohol, but the good news is that most of them don’t like it! Ha ha
Two of the boys cheat and then lie about it.
Some profanity.
A LOT of discussion about male body parts.

Uplifting theme:

“We only have one life. Which guy are you going to decide to be?” – Fridge/Kevin Hart
Sacrifice for others, friendship, loyalty
Confidence, self-esteem
“You can’t waste lives. Each one matters. Like it or not, we have to do this together.” – Spencer/Dwayne Johnson (TRUE!)

Things I liked:

Lots of humor. The running joke is that these great comedic actors play against type. Surprisingly, it doesn’t get old and makes for a fun ride.

Dwayne, the Rock, Johnson. I love him in everything he does. Lots of smolder jokes. I love that he can laugh at himself.
I always get a kick out of movie references inside movies. In this film, you’ll hear and see clever nods to classic kid movies like The Breakfast Club, Freaky Friday, and The Goonies
While Nick Jonas isn’t a great actor, he was just nominated for a Golden Globe for his song Home in the movie Ferdinand. Good for him! His character in Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle was going to be played by Tom Holland, but he was already busy filming Spider-Man: Homecoming .
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Guardians of the Galaxy (Theatrical), but it was nice to see Karen Gillan’s real face instead of her completely covered in make-up as Nebula. Her skimpy outfit was actually inspired by Lara Croft’s outfit from the original Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition – Xbox One video games. She makes a joke about how ridiculous it was to wear such an outfit in the jungle. Ha ha Some people have been critical of her sexist outfit, yet it’s pretty true to how women are dressed in video games. By the way, a remake of the Tomb Raider movie hits theaters in 2018!
The movie was filmed in beautiful Hawaii.

Things I didn’t like:

You can’t always understand what Kevin Hart says. Actually, he rarely “says” anything…he yells everything. Hart is the personification of caffeine. Sometimes it’s just too much.
Funny gross kiss. Bleh.
Creepy, crawly bugs go in and out of Van Pelt’s ears and mouth. Ick. Van Pelt is the name of the villain in the first movie too, where he is an animal hunter. In this one, the villain (Bobby Cannavale) has control over animals and insects in the jungle.
Although necessary to bridge the gap between the last two movies and this one, there is a long expository scene to help you understand what is happening.
It always bugs me a little bit when the lines in trailers are actually different from what plays in the movie. Speaking of the trailer, the Guns N Roses song Welcome To The Junglenbsp;plays in it, which is one of the reasons why the film’s subtitle is Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle.
The original Jumanji is much better and cleaner.

Funny lines:

“The fact that I’m not Instagramming this right now is insane.” – Bethany/Jack Black
“You don’t get in water with a backpack. Everybody knows that!” – Fridge/Kevin Hart
“That was so intense. I like can’t even with this place!” – Bethany/Jack Black
“Now sparkle like an anime character!” – Bethany/Jack Black
“A nibble goes a long way, girlfriend.” – Bethany/Jack Black
“There are so many diseases out here.” – Spencer/Dwayne Johnson
“You’re aware there are other people in the world, right?” – Teacher (Maribeth Monroe)
“Are you going to help or are you two pretty?” – Young Martha (Morgan Turner)

“I’m too pretty.” – Young Bethany (Madison Iseman)

Interesting lines:

“I’m so focused on myself I don’t see what others are dealing with.” – Bethany/Jack Black
“Board game? Who plays board games?” – Teenager (Mason Guccione)