Jumanji: The Next Level review

When Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle came out audiences weren’t expecting anything. The internet was more abuzz about how the film couldn’t live up to Robin Williams’ performance and why Karen Gillan’s character was wearing a crop top. That film blew any low expectations away and was a manic blend of action and humor.  Jumanji: The Next Level doesn’t achieve an Empire Strikes Back, but it doesn’t entirely drop the video game ball either.

What’s happened after the first film is that the four teen friends have gone their separate ways and Spencer feels that his best days are behind him. He yearns for a period when he was the hero and life was an adventure a minute happening with him being the action avatar he previously was.

Jumanji: The Next Level is not a bad film, it’s just that the trailers give away far too much of the story. If you’ve seen one trailer for the film then you know that Spencer goes back into the game, as do his friends, plus his grandfather and his friend. The key battle sequences are shown in the trailer and there’s only one (very welcome) surprise that happens about 70% through the film.

Once the characters get into the game the players adapt to their new avatars. If you haven’t seen the trailer then this will be refreshing and provide lots of laughs. If you have seen the trailer then this will get old and repetitive very quickly. Unfortunately for those that have seen the trailer, the body-swap jokes and old men in young avatar only work once, leaving lots of dialogue between Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart frustrating stuck in circular conversations.

Even with that, their banter is entertaining. The fact that these two performers can go through interpretations of the same insults for several scenes speaks to their chemistry. Granted there are other factors in these scenes that balance the expected dialogue, but for the most part the movie lives or dies on those two main characters.

Our 10 year-old was pumped to see the film and it didn’t disappoint him. I saw the first one and loved it, whereas I found Jumanji: The Next Level entertaining, but nothing special. There are a couple new twists in the film that will hook in teen audiences. They’ll enjoy Jack Black pretending to be a 20-something girl and boys will enjoy the aforementioned costume by Gillan. Older teens will see the twists coming and might be wishing they had scored tickets to another film.

It’s rated PG-13, but the action in the film is mild. Most of the rating is deserved by the language that wasn’t necessary and didn’t provide any laughs. We get it; Danny Devito plays a grumpy old man who curses a little bit. However, it’s those choice curse words that just might factor in to some parents not allowing their middle elementary-aged kids to see the film. Thus, the movie does merit its PG-13 rating. There were also a couple CGI issues where the action, specifically the monkeys and ostriches were blurred and inconsistent. There were also a couple continuity issues where the ‘life tattoos’ that the characters in the game had on their arm-and then they weren’t. .

Jumanji: The Next Level is disposable entertainment. It’s good for when you’re there. The film is pleasant, escapist fun that you’re not expecting much from and it delivers on accomplishing that low bar. If you liked the first film then you’ll enjoy this, if you’re seeing this as a stand-alone film you’ll wonder what the entire hubbub is about.