Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Jake Kasdan (Sex Tape)
	Actors: Dwayne Johnson (San Andreas), Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, Jack Black (King Kong)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Adventure, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 13.06.2018, inflight entertainment 14" screen
Synopsis: Four teenagers are sucked into a magical video game, and the only way they can escape is to work together to finish the game.
Review: Interestingly this is the second movie with Dwayne Johnson entitled Welcome to the Jungle after the 2003 one also known as The Rundown. Also not to be confused with the 2013 self'-mocking Welcome to the Jungle with Jean-Claude Van Damme. This definitely is a popular movie title! And of course the end credit roll with the song from Guns N' Roses... Welcome to the Jungle! In fact it is a sequel / remake / reboot of the 1995 Jumanji in which the main character played by Robin Williams escapes a magical board game after decades spent in it, and takes out parts of that Universe with him, at the great peril of the kids playing the game. Mention is made of his character, one can recognize the jungle and rhinos, the bad guy has the same name and the board game is present, only to be quickly transformed into a video game cartridge to better trap a new generation of players. This version reminded me of the recent Horror B-movie Beyond the Gates. I found the rules of the game to be cleverly adapted to the video game culture: 3 lives, characters with special skills and weaknesses, different levels to conquer, ... But the best idea in this movie for me is to transport the four teenagers into adult bodies with very different characteristics: the nerd into the muscular adventurer played by Johnson, the shy girl into a Lara Croft, the tall football player into a zoologist/valet, and the best of all a bimbo obsessed by her image and her phone into the body of Jack Black who delivers one of his best performance ever. I love his line: "Since I lost my phone my other senses have heightened". OK the movie contains a fair amount of jokes under the belt, but I found them acceptable and not too long as it can often be in modern dumb comedies. Unexpectedly, I had a good time, and I may watch again the original Jumanji soon.
Rating: 6 /10