Monday, December 25, 2017

12/26/17 Jumanji: Welcome ToThe Jungle? (movie)

    I was so opposed to watching a remake of this movie, primarily because I thought it disrespectful of the late Robin Williams who I remembered starring in this weird little movie back in the 90s.  I told Wife look at me, I have been up all day, I'd rather not watch this crap, and I generally acted like a baby the whole time driving and walking in.
    It started with a bit of a nostalgia showing some random kid in the 90s, refusing the board game, having the board game convert magically to a video game, then the kid gets a hankering, plugs the now cartridge into his system and almost instantly gets sucked into the game.  Fast forward to present day now and we are in a room with a random high school hot chick taking selfies, then an awkward teen boy playing video games and apparently finishing a homework assignment for a football player we find out later, used to be his best friend.  These three end up in trouble, along with a fourth girl for various reasons and end up in detention.  Detention happens to be in a basement, and as soon as the principal disappears, they find a video game console, plug it in and get sucked in.
    They now find themselves in Jumanji, an island and they have also been transformed into game characters,  such as the nerdy boy is now Dr. Smolder Bravestone (The Rock), all muscles and leader attitude, the old friend who was the black athletic type in real life is now the sidekick, Finbar, played by Kevin Hart, the best character swap is the bratty hot chick who finds herself playing the curator  Professor Shelly Oberon, Masterfully portrayed by Jack Black, and finally the extra girl who joins them in detention is very shy and introverted, becomes Ruby Roundhouse, who is an expert at all sorts of fighting, played by the very attractive Karen Gillan.
    The Rock and Kevin Hart obviously have chemistry as this is the 2nd or 3rd movie they have been working on together in the last couple years.  Jack Black had kind of become predictable and seemed to only play the buffoon, but this role as a girl in man's clothing really works for Black's explosive energy.  I was sure I was going to fall asleep as soon as the movie started, the weird pre-movie shows were not helping, but once the movie got going, the whole theater was on the edge of their seats.  I am pretty sure this is the loudest a theater crowd has been, but in a good way.  The comedy was very good, both in the jokes and the physical humor.
    It seemed almost weird, but they run into the kid that had disappeared in the 90's, he tells them he has been there just a couple of months, but from his references, mentioning Cindy Crawford as the hottie, they figure he is from another time.  He is instrumental in getting them home, as they learn, they must all work together to succeed.  I don't like giving the endings away, but I think this is a pretty good movie, I might even enjoy watching it a second time, we won't because there is always something new, but it was good enough to consider that possibility.

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