Film Review of the Week

Blockbuster of the Week: Jumanji: The Next Level

LondonNet Film Review: Jumanji: The Next Level

During a rare heartfelt exchange in director Jake Kasdan’s action-packed sequel to his fitfully entertaining 2017 rumble in the jungle, a teenage protagonist asks chums to forget about the digital realm of Jumanji. “Can we agree, let’s never go back there,” he urges. Regrettably, his cautionary words are roundly ignored by Kasdan and co-writers Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, who contrive a return to the booby-trap laden wilderness where digitally rendered creatures can quickly deplete the characters’ three lives. A frenetic set-piece incorporating a stampede of ostriches falls short of the vicarious thrill of similar chases in the Jurassic Park films while a topsy-turvy encounter with crazed mandrills disorients us almost as much as the cast.

Jumanji: The Next Level searches forlornly for a spot where lightning might strike twice but the plot and pacing are haphazard and the agreeably fractious double-act of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart loses its comic lustre on a second viewing. Repeated body-swapping in a hare-brained second act tests the actors’ versatility but the rewards for us are scant. Contrary to the title, Kasdan’s second chapter is a disappointing step backwards. It has been two years since high school students Bethany (Madison Iseman), Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain), Martha (Morgan Turner) and Spencer (Alex Wolff) were sucked into a Jumanji video game cartridge and played as larger-than-life avatars to secure their return to the real world. While Bethany, Fridge and Martha have subsequently embraced college life, Spencer feels disconnected..