Thursday, January 25, 2018

Critical Commentary - "Jumanji, Welcome To the Jungle"

It is that time of the year when Hollywood is showcasing all of it's serious, awards worthy movies, and we have been doing our part to see those movies.  You know, "Darkest Hour", "The Post", "I, Tonya".  We've been trying to see them all, and they are great movies, but it has been interesting to note that for at least the last three weeks none of those films have led the pack in box office receipts.  Nope, that movie, the one that people are actually paying money to go see has been this one....


So, we decided to forgo serious and important movies, and take this one in yesterday.  Let me tell you, this movie will never win any awards, and, yes, it was silly, but it was also funny, charming, and entertaining.  Isn't that what it's supposed to be all about?

It's all about a bunch of misfit high school kids who somehow get transported into a video game (told you it was silly) and are transformed into the bodies of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black (who has to act like a teen aged girl), and Karen Gillan, with whom I was not familiar, but was totally charming.  It also featured an interesting cameo by an unbilled actor at the end.  I won't spoil it for you.  

Former pro wrestler Johnson has really found his niche as  an action movie actor ("I love The Rock" said Mrs. Grandstander as we left the theater), and he and Hart make a great team, as the two of them did in "Central Intelligence" a few years ago.  They could be this generation's Hope and Crosby or Martin and Lewis.

"Jumanji, Welcome to the Jungle" is mindless entertainment, to be sure, but it's fun, and you could even take your kids to see it with you and not be uncomfortable about it.

Two and one-half stars from The Grandstander.

Hart, Johnson, Gillan, and Black


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