'Jumanji: The Next Level' Review—Effortlessly Entertaining

Question! Is this movie considered Jumanji 2 or Jumanji 3? Because it's the direct sequel to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, but if Welcome to the Jungle is considered Jumanji 2, then this is Jumanji 3, right?

But where does Zathura fit into this? Is Zathura considered Jumanji 2? And if it is, does that mean Welcome to the Jungle is considered Jumanji 3 and this movie is Jumanji 4: The Next Level?

I hate myself. Let's start the review.

Jumanji: The Next Level is a fantasy adventure comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan. The film follows a group of teenagers who get transported into the fictional world of a video game named Jumanji and the crazy adventure that follows.

I personally liked Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle more than the original Jumanji, because I found the cast and characters to be more memorable and it had a greater sense of humor than the first film, which was a bit more dark and drab.

This is a sequel that no one really asked for, but now that we're getting it, we might as well watch it because after all, it's Jumanji. And it was awesome; I really enjoyed this movie and I think it's about the same quality as Welcome to the Jungle, though I do slightly prefer the first.

While this movie does not quite take the events of Welcome to the Jungle to "the next level", this is an effortlessly entertaining popcorn movie with a cast that you can't help but adore watching on screen.

This film has Danny DeVito's character be transported into the game as The Rock's character with Danny Glover's character transported into Jumanji as Kevin Hart's character, and this is a decision that works well in many ways and doesn't work well in others.

Now, as an extremely immature person with a stupid sense of humor, I cannot tell you that I wasn't entertained by watching Dwayne Johnson do an impression of Danny DeVito. Because it was, quite honestly, hilarious to watch The Rock play against type again in a role that is very funny to watch.

I'm a bit less fond of Danny Glover in Kevin Hart's body because while Hart does the voice and mannerisms very well and he was able to play a character very different from himself, it wasn't as funny as the writers seemed to hope it would be.

Karen Gillan does as good of a job in this film as she did in the last one, and Jack Black's talent shines here, as he spends a majority of this movie as Fridge, a different character than he was playing last time, and he does a fantastic job of selling the idea that he was Fridge.

Our main cast of teenage characters returns in this film, and it is nice to see where they left off after the end of the previous film, ad the actors all step back into their roles seamlessly.

The action sequences in this film are very fun to watch. The best out of all of them may be a scene near the middle with a large amount of wooden bridges and a gang of ostriches. It sounds absurd, but trust me–it's really entertaining and it's very well-constructed.

In terms of the climax of the film, I thought it was better than the last movie. The final setpiece feels a bit larger in terms of its scale and there are many payoffs at the end of the film that just put a very stupid smile on my face.

Now, this is a comedy as well, and I tend to laugh pretty easily at comedies, which is why I enjoyed this movie so much. Most of the jokes in the film are really funny without feeling like a bunch of elaborate setups intended to be funny. This is a talented cast that handles the comedic material very well.

However, my only issue with the comedy was how there was one joke where it was essentially "DeVito and Glover don't understand they're in a video game" and this joke kept getting recycled throughout the film to the point where it stopped being funny.

As for my other issues, this film tells virtually the same story as the original. Many of the story beats and ideas in this film are exactly the same as they were in Welcome to the Jungle; the writers changed the locations and the villain, but the objective is essentially the same.

Now, while I get that it is the same video game and it makes sense that they would have the same objective, this movie doesn't exactly take the story in any particularly interesting directions, nor does it bring its characters to any places that would justify this film's existence.

The villain of this movie is, like the first one, very weak and forgettable. Furthermore, because DeVito and Glover are thrown into the mix, the chemistry between the teenagers that was prominent in the first film is no longer present.

In the previous film, the teenagers are given a video game avatar to complement their personality, and by the end of it, they've all reached a character arc because of their experience in the game. This movie, however, no longer pushes these characters into any new, interesting places.

Furthermore, there's a scene at the beginning of the third act where the characters all do something, and they get it perfectly on the first try. Given the way everything worked in the game, I felt as if the scene would have been much more realistic and hilarious if we had gotten to see their failed attempts before eventually getting it right.

Despite these issues and the fact that this sequel feels a bit forced, this is the definition of an entertaining popcorn movie. This is a movie that you can go to with a group of people and just expect to be wowed and entertained by the crazy action and the priceless comedy.

While it is very predictable and the chemistry isn't quite there anymore, it's a very fun movie. Awkwafina was a welcome addition to the cast, and this movie is one of the more enjoyable theater experiences I've had all year.

I'm gonna give 'Jumanji: The Next Level' an 8/10 (B).

Well, this review is done. And I have deleted Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram from my phone in order to dodge the Star Wars spoilers. I just hope that movie won't disappoint me.

Thank you for reading.