• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Sony's JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL (12/13/19)
0

57 posts in this topic

 

Quote

EXCLUSIVE: New Zealand-born actor Rhys Darby will return as the players’ guide Nigel in the next installment to Sony’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Also returning are Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Nick Jonas as well as four teens Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, Alex Wolff. Franchise newcomers include Awkwafina, Danny DeVito, and Danny Glover. Jake Kasdan will direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner.

 

Matt Tolmach will again produce the sequel with Seven Bucks’ Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia, and Kasdan.

 

Edited by Bosco685
Final title revealed
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

Columbia’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was a surprisingly inventive and ingenious franchise revamp. It used its IP as a starting point on which to craft an original and crowd-pleasing action comedy with fun characters played by fun actors. Considering the pressures of delivering a sequel for a film that was both an unexpected super-smash and one where there was perhaps more affinity than expected for the characters (as opposed to the core franchise), I’m doubly surprised that Jumanji: The Next Level, opening this Thursday night, may be even better. It keeps what worked about the last film and finds new (and ever-changing) ways to switch up the status quo in order to make what could have been a mere rehash feel fresh and unpredictable.

 

The experiences of Welcome to the Jungle turned four relative strangers (Spencer, Fridge, Bethany and Martha) into close friends, but their lives have gone on different paths. Spencer (Alex Wolff) is feeling especially adrift and yearning for the confidence and power he briefly felt as Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson). As everyone arrives home for the holiday break, Spencer is nowhere to be found, and his friends soon discover that he has willingly jumped back into the world of Jumanji. So, into the game they go, but happenstance also causes Spencer’s grandfather (Danny DeVito) and an old friend (Danny Glover) to get sucked in as well. The kids must survive Jumanji yet again as the elders attempt to come to terms with some old wounds.

 

Yes, The Next Level plays a similar game. Once again, young kids end up sucked into a video game and forced to survive a video game adventure within their respective adult avatars. As you’ll know if you’ve seen the previews, the “real world” folks aren’t necessarily in the same avatars this time, the mission is more complicated, and two of the human players are senior citizens with their own problems. The film gets off on the right foot right away, both by offering a new status quo (the kids are still relatively close as a result of the first film even as Spenser drifts away) and a poignant new relationship (Eddie and Milo’s issues are both refreshingly specific and movingly relatable) which grounds the fantasy elements.

 

Jumanji: The Next Level is a solid line drive to center field. The actors are still fun, the twists on the last film’s formula yield enough justification for another go-around, while the character development works to make it more than just a visceral exercise. It’s handsomely staged, pleasantly colorful, competently directed and cheerfully fashioned with just enough specificity to make sure it doesn’t feel like an assembly line product. It’s not high art, but it’s a darn good sequel to a surprisingly good predecessor. It’s no new classic, but it’s another very good video game movie that isn’t based on a video game. Warts and all, this third Jumanji is at least as good as we’d hope for every franchise-friendly studio biggie in this day and age.

Wow! That says a lot when you can get such positive comments out of Mendelson for non-Disney films. :applause:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
0