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JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL by Urizen


   I was always unsure of the idea of doing a sequel/reboot of the Jumanji franchise. The original was so iconic and classic. Throw in Robin Williams and his passing, and it made the whole thing seem impossible.  When Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle came out in 2017, I gave in and went to see it. It had Karen Gillan and Dwayne Johnson in it. There was no way I wasn’t going to see it. To my surprise, I really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was very funny, and did a good job at paying homage to the original while still making sure to stand on its own. It was a success so naturally a sequel was eventually announced, which is where we are today.

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Danny DeVito, and Danny Glover, Jumanji: The Next Level, sees our group return to the world of Jumanji when Spencer ends up going into the game once again. Martha, Fridge, and Bethany must fight back against the broken game to find their friend. This time though they must also deal with Spencer’s grandfather, Eddie, and his friend Milo who have also been sucked into the game. Will they be able to find Spencer and make it out of the game safely, or will it be game over for the gang? Better yet, is this game over for the beloved franchise?

   I was surprised to find this movie, once again, to be pretty good.  I really enjoyed myself throughout the movie from beginning to end. The humor was pretty spot on with very few jokes falling flat. I’d say it did a good job at giving everyone their moment to shine and get their jokes in. I might be a bit biased  though as one of my favorite types of comedy is when an actor has to act like another actor. There is so much of that in this film, with all of it working excellently.

   On that subject, everyone’s acting in this movie was really great. I can’t really think of any weak link throughout. Both the real world, and the video game cast have such great chemistry. They all work off each other very well and come off as very believable. You can also tell that they are all having the time of their lives filming this. It was refreshing if I’m being honest.

  I do have to say, despite having great comedy, great acting, a decent story and some pretty well done emotional moments, this movie for me isn’t as good as the last one. At least right now. I could see myself changing that opinion in the future. I don’t even know why this one doesn’t work as well for me. They are both very close, but something about Jumanji: The Next Level puts it just below Welcome to the Jungle for me. It could have something to do with the pacing. For whatever reason, everything seemed to really fly by. When the film got to the final act, I felt I had only been watching it for like an hour. It was around a two hour movie, but truthfully could have benefited from being a little longer. In the end, I think that is really what's holding it off from being a better film.

   As I said, Jumanji: The Next Level is a funny, well acted, pretty well written, and well done sequel. It has some good ideas, plays well off the strengths and weakness of the actors and felt like a natural progression for the Jumanji franchise. Unfortunately, pacing does seemingly cause it to feel very rushed and lacking compared to the last film, but that doesn’t stop it from being a great film that is worth seeing. I look forward to hopefully seeing what more this franchise can bring. With the video game concept, they wouldn’t even have to keep the same actors. I truly hope things don’t go downhill for the series though from here on out. It will be great to see it go on further and further to the next level.

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