Review – Jumanji, The Next Level

Film: Jumanji, The Next Level
Cast: Alex Wolff, Madison Iseman, Darius Blain, Morgan Turner, Dwayne Johnson, Danny Devito and others
Director: Jake Casden
Rating: Two and a half stars

As a boy, Jumanji was among the movies that I most enjoyed. Now, the latest film from the franchise, Jumanji: The Next Level is out and somehow, I don’t seem to find it as impressive or interesting as the earlier parts.

For those of you who are new to the franchise, Jumanji is about the adventures of people trapped in a magic game that keeps throwing dangerous challenges at its players now and again. The only way to exit the game is to finish the task. Each player has three lives. The risk is that if they lose their third life, they die.

Having given you enough details about the franchise itself, let’s get to this instalment — the fourth in the franchise — and tell you about what it has to offer.

In Jumanji:The Next Level,the four teenagers –Spencer (Alex Wolff), Bethany (Madison Iseman), Fridge (Darius Blain) and Martha(Morgan Turner) — who survived the trials and adventures of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, return home to Brantford, New Hampshire for the holidays. They plan a get together but then, Spencer doesn’t turn up for it. That’s because he is feeling low and his lack of self-esteem makes it difficult to face his friends in general and his girl friend in particular.

To bolster his self-esteem, Spencer decides to go back to the game Jumanji, where he hopes to play the adventurous character of Dr Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson).

Meanwhile, after wondering why their friend hasn’t turned up, the others arrive at his place, only to find that their friend has gone back to Jumanji through a broken video game console in his basement. They too decide to go back to Jumanji to save him.

Interestingly, Spencer’s grandfather Eddie (Danny DeVito) and his friend Milo Walker (Danny Glover) too inadvertently get sucked into the game along with the youngsters!

This time, the adventurers are tasked with reclaiming a jewel that has been stolen by Jurgen the Brutal. If the jewel is not shone to the sun, all of Jumanji is bound to wither and subsequently, get destroyed.

Each of the players, like always, gets an avatar with their own sets of strengths and weaknesses. However, this time, they don’t get to choose their avatars. So, Spencer doesn’t get the avatar of Dr Smolder Bravestone that he intially thought he would. Instead, it is his grandpa Eddie who gets it!

Luckily, there is a magical stream that allows characters to interchange their avatars and the teenagers and elderly gentlemen eventually swap their roles and accomplish the mission. How they do it is what the film is about.

The film isn’t half as interesting as the earlier parts because of a couple of reasons. First is the fact that there are two many characters in the game itself. It takes time for one to keep in mind each of the characters and the avatars they have got. Before one can comfortably recall which character plays which avatar and what each one’s strengths and weaknesses are, the characters interchange avatars. What makes it even more difficult is the fact that the avatars that characters get are independent of the factors of gender and race. This means that a male character could get a female avatar. This adds to the confusion.

Next, as compared to the earlier parts, the action sequences in this part are very few. Also, in this part, everytime an adventure sequence begins, you are sure how it is going to end and that takes the fun out of it.

All of these work against film. However, by and large, the film is entertaining. One factor that works in favour of the film is Danny Devito’s brilliant performance as Spencer’s grandfather Eddie.

Directed by Jake Kasdan, this instalment is fun if you are watching a film from the franchise for the first time. If you have watched other films from the franchise, you are likely to be a little disappointed.