Jumanji: The Next Level

Jumanji: The Next Level – Feeling powerless and inadequate, Spencer repairs the Jumanji game thinking that he can replay as Smolder Bravestone by himself. But his friends enter the game to rescue him and discover that nothing is as it was before. Joined by Eddie (Spencer’s grandfather) and Milo (Eddie’s estranged friend and ex-business partner) can the gang defeat the all new threats of Jumanji’s deadly game?

Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) – Director: Jake Kasdan

Rating: 12A

Running Length: 123 mins

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan

Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy

REVIEW: ‘JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL’

Get ready to reboot the games console and blow the dust out of the cartridge, Jumanji is begging for another play. Before Jumanji’s iconic drums thump out to recall our cast, ‘The Next Level’ reloads where we were before. Spencer is feeling secluded and alone whilst attending college in New York, avoiding his long distance relationship with Martha due to insecurity about himself. Not only that, but this time around Spencer’s grandfather, Eddie (Danny DeVito) and Eddie’s estranged friend, Milo (Danny Glover) get trapped in Jumanji’s video game dangers. The format may be the same, but by switching the characters around the very successful format gets essentially retold.

One of the main problems with ‘Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle’ was the lack of any present antagonist. This time around we have Jurgen the Brutal (Rory McCann) who gets enough screen time to establish a good threat. However, as before it is the world of Jumanji that threatens the biggest drain of lives for our characters. Animals and environments attack with popcorn munching aplomb and make for many excitingly fun sequences. Kasden directs the action with an assured pacing that, for the most part, means we are always progressing with fun and a smile through this skilful action / adventure romp.

The movie does have some flaws. The returning cast have no new emotional arcs to explore. Spencer’s insecurity established in the opening scenes is abandoned only to be resolved with one quick conversation in the third act, reducing him to a plot device to get everyone back in the game. Martha kicks backside as Ruby Roundhouse, but has no self image growth. Fridge is annoyed to be in a different body but learns nothing from doing so. And Bethany is relegated to last act backup. No, it is the historic collapse of Eddie and Milo’s friendship that form the emotional core here. Milo’s early retirement caused Eddie to lose the restaurant he loved and whilst this does grant a few good scenes, it mostly relies on Eddie’s bullheadedness which lacks the emotional subtly from the previous movie of Spencer and Fridge drifting apart. Also, although there is fun to be had in rehashing the body swap concept by switching around who is who, come the halfway point there is a longing to return to the previous movie’s chemistry.

2017’s ‘Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle’ grossed around 10x its budget, knocking on the door of nearly $1 billion. So it is of no surprise to anyone that a sequel in the form of ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ has hit our screens barely 2 years later. The formula was so perfectly balanced last time there is minimal tinkering for 2019’s go over. It’s a great blend of laugh out loud comedy, fun performances, and exciting action that suffers by spreading thin what little emotional moments it has for its characters. But really, if you loved Jumanji last time then it makes perfect sense to hit ‘Continue’ for this replay.

CONTENT: IS ‘JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

In the showing that we attended there was a trailer for Bird of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. The trailer featured bad language by use of the words ‘shit’ and ‘bitch’.

Once inside the game a character narrowly avoids being eaten by a hippopotamus. However, shortly after this another character is suddenly attacked by a giant snake which bites down on their head, entirely covering it with their mouth. The character is then flung out of shot. This is used to establish the fact that each character has three ‘lives’ as the attacked party re-appears quickly after unharmed. The scene may upset as a sudden shock though.

In a flashback, a village is attacked and set on fire by marauding barbarians. Some townspeople are shown to be beaten. A voice over states that “many brave souls died”. Shortly after, the scene shows that ‘Jurgen the Brutal’ killed the parents of Smolder Bravestone. He advances towards them with a machete as they cower. Bravestone’s father is clearly the same man as Bravestone but with a fake moustache so there is a comedy element, but he shouts, “No, no no no!” before Jurgen slashes down and the scene cuts. The next scene is a comedy one so the death has minimal effect.

A character taunts an ostrich. The ostrich pecks down hard and the character hit by them ‘explodes’ in a red splat which wetly hits the floor. As with other deaths, this character has remaining lives and so returns quickly after.

A very attractive woman kisses one of the main cast. He’s shocked by this but clearly enjoys it. As the woman leaves he says that she wants him to go with her and that “we all know what that means.” It’s pointed out that she will have a clue for him to which he replies, suggestively, that he also “has a clue for her”.

Two viscous hyenas are held back by chains. Jurgen the Brutal is feeding them hunks of meat whilst talking to a group about a friend that is no longer with them. However, it becomes clear that he is actually feeding human flesh to the hyenas.

A woman is hit by an axe and explodes in a wet red mist, much like how another character did earlier. This is a surprise ‘death’ but she returns immediately after, unharmed.

Two characters are in an area with water that flashes with green lightening. Once they come into contact with it there is a bodyswap whereby the people inhabiting those bodies swap over. This leads to a male person inhabiting a female character. They are delighted to have ‘boobs’ and when told not to touch them they say that that was “literally the first thing” they did. However, we don’t see this.

All the characters are blown up by a bazooka blast. There is minimal blood and they all return afterwards.

One sequence involves moving rope bridges and very aggressive mandrills (large baboon-like monkeys). The mandrills all screech and roar directly at the camera so if your child is frightened by monkeys or sustained loud noise then this scene may not be suitable. The whole sequence lasts around 5 – 8 minutes.

Two characters have a heart to heart where one understands that the other is sick with a terminal illness. They state that they “don’t have much time left”.

One character tries to rescue a horse that is inside a shack. The shack is booby trapped and a dart hits the character in the neck, causing them to explode with a wet red splat. Again, they return immediately after.

Two characters pretend to be expected guests at the bad guys’ fortress, as a notorious pair of brothers. When talking to guards they are asked which is which, as one of the famous brothers is a eunuch. The character who has to pretend to be this brother is offended at having to play along with the deception of being a eunuch. They talk about “testicles” and “balls” several times, including one saying “I have no balls”.

Once the Jumanji game is over, one character very audibly says “Holy shit.”

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL’ FOR KIDS?

‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ smacks of a movie that could easily have been a PG but had a few parts crowbarred in to get the more marketable 12A / PG-13 rating. The ‘deaths’ are mildly gory due to the characters disintegrating into blood splats and there is a small smattering of bad language, both of which could have been removed without much bother should the filmmakers have wanted to. Depending on whether or not you do not wish your children to hear such words we would recommend that ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ is suitable for children aged 7 years and older.

• Violence: 2/5 (Several deaths with red bloody splats but these are brief and, due to the ‘lives’ system, the majority have little tension)
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (the scene where a terminal illness is discussed is touching)
• Fear Factor: 3/5 (lots of loud and aggressive animals. Jurgen the Brutal is large and threatening)
• Sexual Content: 0/5 (mild innuendo and body swap humour)
• Bad Language: 2/5 (mostly mild – uses of ‘screw you’ and ‘son of a bitch’ but a couple of moderate uses. Mild blasphemy)
• Dialogue: 0/5
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of reliving ones’ youth, holding a grudge, pulling together to defeat adversity, feelings of depression and inadequacy, how social media image can make you feel inferior, long distance relationships, and repairing friendships

Words by Mike Record