20 years ago there was a movie called 'Jumanji' it had subpar CGI, annoying child actors and a ''funny'' man who wouldn't shut the hell up in that Aladdin film and created the crummy stereotype of having secondary characters that poop out pop culture dialogue that wasn't very funny at the time and is completely irrelevant now in a bunch of Disney movies for the next 15 years.
Then somebody said: ''Hey let's remake this movie but instead of it being a board game it'll be a video game.'' Somebody else looked at them and said: "Isn't that a form of pandering or cashing in on current trends when the board game do perfectly well?''
To which the first guy responded: ''In a way it is, but if we use a video game format we can get our characters into a situation quite easily without them stereotypically having to find a board games and wanting to play it.''
Why that sounds perfectly reasonable.
If we alter the format to fit a video game we can streamline the story more easily. We don't have to stop every couple of minutes to have a bunch of dumb kids roll some dice and then possibly see an outcome from it. Our characters can just go from one place to another and actually experience the story. We can make it a kind of Indiana Jones meets ''The Lost World*''
We can have more developed character interaction and if we put the children into the persona of the there selected Players then we can use real actors to portray them. A more enjoyable experience not weighed down by subpart child acting.
So in case I didn't make it clear I like this Jumanji movie. I was very happy that I liked it. Whan it came out I didn't pay it any mind, Not only was I a little tired of the reboots at the time but I was never a fan of the original film to begin with. Then something clicked in my head and I thought maybe I should just give this film a try.
I thought the story was solidly paste the characters were mostly enjoyable. Although I found it a little difficult to get past the first 15 minutes before we really get into the game. The kids had this kind of stereotype attitude to one another or they were all acting kind of like jerks. Now grant you that was the point of it but it still was a little hard to sit through and actually watch. Especially considering they could have spent a lot more time on this if they wanted to.
This could have very easily at turn into a breakfast club film. I almost wonder if somebody wanted them to. Because they have the perfect setup for it a bunch of kids who don't really know each other but are aware of each others existence and they're all stereotypically part of their own little clicks.
There’s absolutely great acting from the main cast. Not only did they do well with the characters they were given in the game story but pretending to be a bunch of dim-witted kids who where sucked into a world that are unfamiliar with and running with it. It was done very well. The Rock was solid, Kevin Hart was solid, Karen Gillan was good although her present seem kind of minimal maybe that was intentional given their character. And Jack Black was surprisingly very funny. I thought he was on something of a low-end as of the last few years as he was trying to do more ''serious'' roles but his performance of being a stuck up ''Meangirl'' trapped in the body of an ageing man was surprisingly believable. He put so much energy into it.
One of the best benefits this movie had over the original was the introduction of the multiple lives to each character. Which means we've got a few scenes of characters needlessly dying via Stupid Ways. It made for both some tense moments and some very comedic ones. They even use this life system to get around certain other issues in the story that would otherwise be a plot hole.
CGI in this movie is okay, and it works for this film given that it's in a fictional world. It doesn't look all that much more advanced in the CG from the 96 field. But then I was thinking about it, most the CG in a lot of these new films doesn't look that much more advanced. It's a little bit more polished and they've integrated it so it looks like it's actually running around in the environment better but the overall texture is the same. This isn't the problem I just something I always notice in films.
Easily the greatest strength of this movie is not having Adam Williams (And that's not the guy I'm thinking of, I'm thinking of is Robin Williams. Andy Williams the guy from that ''The Garment Jungle'' film.
Now I know people take issue with that Bad-mouthing Robin Williams. It's tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot. But I'm sorry I just don't think he's that amazing of an actor, he can be a little overbearing sometimes he's good in a particular role like Good morning Vietnam but for the most part I'd rather have someone else.
The only real issue I had with this movie was one scene that took place after a helicopter chase. For some reason the audio for the helicopter cuts out, and I have no idea why this happened.
The conversation between the actors is still there it's just lacking the ambience of the helicopter blade. Such a weird oversight.
*The 1928 Film.
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