JUMANJI!!!
Go see Jumanji. If you already have, great! Go see it again.
The first time I saw the preview I thought, “Oh no, here comes another remake that ruins the original.” I truly felt this movie was unnecessary. I was completely wrong.
First off, Kevin Hart and The Rock are officially one of the best duos around. The two of them work together extremely well. Their chemistry is compounded by the way the movie allows them to riff on themselves and each other. Probably the best element of the movie is the stars getting to make light of who they are. The Rock trying to figure out where his hair went, Kevin Hart getting mad about missing the top 2 feet of his body, and Jack Black outright saying “I’m an overweight, middle-aged man,” in an effeminate voice all suck the audience in to loving these characters.
Speaking of Jack Black, he is the MVP of this movie. Pretty much everything he does solicits laughter. He was the best example of why mistaken identity is so funny. From stammering for his phone, to teaching a woman how to flirt, Jack Black played a pretty hilarious woman.
Karen Gillian also turned in a nice performance. This is the third movie I have seen her in, Guardians of the Galaxy I and II being the others, and it is different seeing her being not blue and part android (She played Nebula, Gamora’s sister, in Guardians). She continued to be the shy badass, which is a part that suits her.
I also thought the subtle undertones of poking fun at the inner workings of video games was a nice theme. Despite being actual people, the minor characters who were the NPCs did a very good job of showing that they were limited to only a specific series of responses, which makes the moviegoer feel as if they are in the video game, too. The movie doesn’t just say the characters are in a video game, and then go about it’ business. It pays attention to the little details that will always separate video games from real life, no matter how realistic the graphics get.
There’s also some action and splosions, which are also cool.
Go see it, seriously.
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