I’ve seen things you’ve only seen in your nightmares. “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” (2017)

directed by Jake Kasdan

To express my lack of respect to this production, I’d like to quote Alan Parrish (Robin Williams) from the original “Jumanji”: “I’ve seen things you’ve only seen in your nightmares. Things you can’t even imagine; things you can’t even see. There are things that haunt you in the night; then something screams, and you hope to god you will not meet the same fate. Afraid? You don’t even know what afraid is.” I guess we’re all used to the fact that sequels of any popular or well-received productions are often worse than the original film. There are some exceptions, obviously, but generally we always feel like giving at least “one star” less than to the next parts of the series. Today I’d like to present you one very good example. Or maybe I should say a horrible example. As you already know from my yesterday’s post, I’m a huge fan of “Jumanji” (1995). There was no sequel for a long time and then in 2017 some people came up with an idea of continuing the story. First of all, what for? I mean, we all know what for. Money, money, money. Okay, we get it. You wanted to use a very good idea to earn money on a refreshed production. At least they didn’t remake it, which would be even worse. Still, I think this sequel (or I should say sequels, because there’s also another part made this year) shows no respect to the author of the story that the original Jumanji was based on, the producers of Jumanji, the actors and the audience raised on the part from 1995. I’m sorry to be straight forward, but I felt offended watching “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” The game in the original film was mysterious, sort of magical. Despite all those ridiculous things that were happening there, we could be one of the participants and share all those emotions with the characters. It was like reading a very good adventure book as a child. The sequel is a typical action and comedy full of special effects, average acting and rather cheesy jokes. I was incredibly excited about this film because I thought it would be a continuation that is very similar to the original one, just made using much better technology. And the acting… I mean, I don’t want to be rude, but they’ve chosen either comedians or actors that are known from not the best productions. Which also sends those “it’s gonna be a lame comedy full of burping and farting jokes” vibes. I barely finished watching the film. And I didn’t feel angry or annoyed, but truly hurt. In my opinion, they really screwed up an occasion for creating a fantastic series. If only Steven Spielberg or J.J. Abrams “hugged” this story, we would have an absolute masterpiece in new adventure cinema. Better luck next time…

My rating: 1/10
S.