Jumanji: The Next Level

Official Australian release date: 26/12/19. Viewed: 26/12/19.

Director: Jake Kasdan

Actors: Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart

Genre: Action / Comedy

Rating: PG

  

‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ is technically the fourth ‘Jumanji’ film, but the second of the new sequels, with all the main four back – Martha/Ruby (Gillan), Bethany/Sheldon (Black), Spencer/Bravestone (Johnson) and Fridge/Franklin (Hart). They obviously get sucked into the game again, but for a stupid reason – and this time, Eddie (DeVito), Milo (Glover) and Ming (Awkwafina) are along for the ride too.

The concept is pretty much the same, with most of the comedy coming from the actors playing the “real life” versions of themselves, which is funny when it’s The Rock acting like Dany DeVito. Kevin Hart talking really slow like Danny Glover is great to watch. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, as Eddie & Milo come to terms with the video game they’re in. It’s also good to have Nigel (Darby) and Alex (Hanks) back and Awkwafina is funny as usual, but doesn’t get too much screen time.

Some new settings, with the desert when they first enter the game and snowy mountains for the final act. It’s obviously left open for another film, but it does fly by and seems like less than 2 hours. It’s fun and easy to like, with not that many flaws, once you suspend believability. I think focusing on Martha & Spencer is OK and the story of Milo & Eddie is very nice. The Rock has less to do and the first half is mostly carried by Black and Gillan, which works for the film.

Overall: Good, fast-paced family comedy.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.