Reviews you should certainly expect to see published by the year's end include The Post, Justice League, Thor: Ragnarok, The Foreigner, Blade Runner 2049, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Darkest Hour, The Disaster Artist, The Shape of Water, Ferdinand, Molly's Game, and Call Me By Your Name... What a mouthful! These are all in some stage of my review process ranging from "I've seen it, but have yet to write anything down about it" all the way to completed.
Anyways, this week I'm reviewing the original 1995 version of Jumanji to commemorate the release of the 2017 sequel/reboot that hit theaters yesterday, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. I did get a chance to see the film yesterday because the company I was interning for treated the interns to an outing to see the film, and it was the one overwhelmingly chosen by just about everyone but myself for whatever reason. So there may or may not be a review already uploaded by the time you're reading this, but you can access it by clicking the blue hyperlink with the film's title if there is. (Fun Fact: This is the case anytime I mention a film title that I've reviewed).
'Jumanji' (1995) Review
Jumanji rolls its dice and first lands audiences in 1869 Brantford, New Hampshire, where two brothers desperately bury a chest in hopes it will never be found. One hundred years later, a young bullied boy named Alan Parrish finds the chest inside a construction site upon hearing the beats of African drums. Parrish brings the chest home and opens it to discover only a board game inside. When his friend Sarah Whittle comes by the house, the two start a game of Jumanji and learn that the pieces move by themselves and mysterious messages appear in the game's center whenever a player rolls the dice. Soon a colony of African bats appear out of nowhere and Alan is sucked into the game. Sarah runs away in fear of the bats, and the game is forgotten.
That is, until a pair of siblings move in the Parrish house with their aunt upon losing their parents in a skiing accident. Peter and Judy Shepherd hear the drums and soon discover the game for themselves. After a few turns accidentally unleashing hosts of wild creatures, a strange man emerges from the game, who the children soon learn to be a thirty-eight year old Alan Parrish. They then must work together to finish the game to undo everything and restore order.
Jumanji was directed by Joe Johnston with a screenplay adapting Chris Van Allsburg's classic children's fantasy book, also called Jumanji, penned by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain. Since its 1995 release, Jumanji has become known as one of those classic family-friendly films. However, upon rewatch (I hadn't seen it for many years), I believe the film's fondly remembered primarily because of Robin Williams. This isn't to say Jumanji is bad, but it the film is admittedly dated. It's clear to me why someone pitched a sequel/reboot to Sony. It's a marketable property that can be brought back using an angle of nostalgia to reel audiences into the theater.
With that being said, the early CGI is TERRIBLE. It's no wonder people were so distrusting of the technology when it was first introduced, because none of it looked believable. Instead the monkeys look like terrible video game avatars.
The practical effects, on the other hand, held up much better to the scrutiny of today's standards. Sure, they're obviously fake-looking as well, but the practical creatures and plants seem far more tangible than the digital effects.
I was slightly surprised to take notice of some seriously dark undertones in Jumanji that I probably never gave a second thought as a kid. A boy misses out on twenty six years of his life, never learning the things most people would in late childhood and early adulthood. He regrets having ever opened the game. He regrets telling his father he'd never speak to him again, because he truly never can now that he's returned and his parents are already deceased. On top of that, the two siblings Peter and Judy are recently orphaned. Like I said, some dark stuff...
That's not even to mention how terrifying all the situations of the game must be to a young child. I can't imagine feeling inclined to show a child Jumanji till they're at least ten. Although the dated effects may not be as frightening to a kid now because they're used to higher quality effects, I'd imagine the idea behind Jumanji might scare them all the same.
However, the puzzling premise and captivating cast on display guarantee Jumanji is a fun, adventurous ride. The dialogue can be cheesy and the situations can feel contrived at times, but the two aforementioned elements outshine the worst of it. It's a story where the antagonist is a board game, which manages to manifest itself so that the player must confront their deepest fears and insecurities to emerge victorious. How fascinating is that?
Elsewhere, Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce are a step above the average child actors and Bonnie Hunt's Sarah Whittle goes from frantic and frizzled to confident and assured. Johnathan Hyde, Bebe Neuwirth, and David Alan Grier can also be found among the ensemble as various stock characters, but they play their parts well.
In all honesty, Jumanji isn't the masterfully-made movie you remember it to be, but Jumanji's themes hold just as much weight as they did twenty-two years ago... And for that reason, I can say its status as a classic is well-earned.
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