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Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a new take on 1995's Jumanji. This time, instead of entering a board game, the players enter a video game. The popular stars, including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan, are likely to appeal to audiences of all ages. Expect some swearing (mostly "s--t" and "ass"), as well as action violence -- the main characters each die multiple times within the game (but they're regenerated quickly) -- and a couple of jump scares. Characters kiss and flirt awkwardly, and there are several references to dating, experience, and the humor of having a penis (one of the female teens is in a male avatar for most of the movie). There are also references to how girls/women can "distract men" with their attention and body, which doesn't send a great message to girls. That said, The Rock's character's body is also objectified. Still, there are positive themes here related to teamwork, empathy, selflessness, and communication, making this an easy pick for families who enjoy action adventures -- especially if they saw the original movie or read the Chris Van Allsburg book on which both films are based.
The film is directed by Jake Kasdan, American director specialized in the communication cinema whose career began to develop in the world of television. We must highlight his participation directing several episodes of "Freaks and Geeks" (1999-2000), "Grosse Pointe" (2000) or the direction of the pilot episode of "Californication" (2008), among others. In its first years of activity, "Zero Effect" (1998), a television movie with drama and comedy overtones whose screenplay also ran in his charge. In this debut Kasdan directed the actors of the likes of Bill Pullman, Ben Stiller or Ryan O'Neal. "Condado de Orange" (2002) was his second feature film. The film had a budget of 18 million dollars and a title by Colin Hanks, Jack Black and Schuyler Fisk. Several years later, he embarked on the third film, "The TV Set" (2006). On this occasion, David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver were in charge of defending a script also written by Jake Kasdan. A year later he directed "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story", a film he co-wrote with Judd Apatow about a singer (John C. Reilly) who intends to become a music legend. Her next work was Bad Teacher (2011), a comedy about a high school teacher with a somewhat "hooligan" life who plays Cameron Diaz, seconded by Jason Segel and Justin Timberlake. That same year he also directed the comedy television film "Primavera / Otoño" (2011). After directing several chapters for the popular sentimental comedy of the Fox "New Girl" (2011), he directed the comedy Gamberra Sex Tape (2014), again with Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz as a couple protagonist. After this title he returned to television where he addressed several chapters for "Fresh Off the Boat" (2015), "Weird Loners" (2015) and "The Grinder" (2015).
WHAT'S THE STORY? JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE is an updated adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's picture book, this time turning the life-changing board game into a video game. The movie opens in 1996, when a teenager's father gives him the Jumanji board game. When he bemoans aloud that nobody plays with board games anymore, it magically transforms into a video game, which he gets sucked into. Fast-forward to the present, and four high schoolers are sent to detention on the same day: self-absorbed "hot popular girl" Bethany (Madison Iseman), bookish Martha (Morgan Turner), nerdy Spencer (Alex Wolff), and his childhood friend turned football star Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain). While serving detention, Fridge and Spencer find the Jumanji game in an old donation box and convince the girls to play. After they each choose an avatar, they're immediately pulled into the game, where Spencer is transformed into superhero-sized archeologist Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), Fridge is Bravestone's diminutive sidekick zoologist Moose Finbar (Kevin Hart), Martha is "killer of men" vixen Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), and Bethany is cartographer Professor Shelly Overton (Jack Black). To get out of the game, the foursome must work together to save Jumanji from the control of the evil Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale) -- before any of them lose all of their three assigned lives.
MOVIE INFO Rating: PG-13 (for adventure action, suggestive content and some language) Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy Directed By: Jake Kasdan Written By: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner In theaters: December 20, 2017 Runtime: 119 minutes Music: Henry Jackman Studio: Columbia Pictures Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Nick Jonas, Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner