JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (2017) *** ½

The original Jumanji involved some kids playing a jungle-themed board game that caused a bunch of wild animals to spring out of the game and wreak havoc.  Since that was twenty-two years ago, Welcome to the Jungle updates things for the modern era.  This time around, the kids get sucked into the Jumanji video game.  The filmmakers were wise enough not to update things too much.  Since the game system is clearly modeled on ‘90s 16-Bit technology, the non-playable characters recite their pithy dialogue again and again until the players decide what to do.  It’s a small touch, but a welcome one for people who remember (and still play) those old games.  

In fact, the whole movie is like that.  It’s a little better, funnier, and more heartfelt than it really needed to be at just about every turn.  Because of that, it’s not only a worthy sequel to Jumanji, it manages to be even better.

Given the fact that the cast includes The Rock, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black as the video game characters pretty much guaranteed this was going to be fun one way or another.  Even if the script was weak, the chemistry between the leads could’ve easily pulled it off.  Since the teens are stuck inside the characters’ bodies, it opens to door to a series of endless comedic possibilities.  The Rock, Hart, Gillan, and Blark gleefully have fun externalizing the teenage characters that inhabit them, which leads to several big laughs throughout the picture.  (The Rock and Gillan have a kiss that undoubtedly will go on to win Best Kiss at the next MTV Movie Awards.)

While director Jake (Orange County) Kasdan milks the premise for all its worth, he also does something unexpected:  He makes the body-switching stuff surprisingly sweet.  I mean Black could’ve played the part of a teenage girl trapped inside a middle-aged man’s body sophomoric and crude (and yes, there is some of that here), but he manages to make the transformation seamless and dare I say, endearing too.  By the end of the movie, you even begin to care about him/her, which is something I definitely wasn’t expecting.  This is simply some of the best body-swapped acting since Face/Off.  

Kasdan does a fine job with the various animal attacks and motorcycle stunts, and has fun with playing around with the concept of being trapped in a video game (the players only have three lives).  The only debit is the boring and thoroughly one-dimensional villain.  The fact that the villain is played by the usually gregarious Bobby Cannavale makes it that much more disappointing.  Still, you have to love the random Tim Matheson extended cameo.