Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) Movie Review

Hello again guys and welcome back for another round of movie reviews with Movie Nerd, a place where you can be nerdy about movies!

So, I am a very big fan of the original Jumanji movie and I very much enjoyed Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle from 2017. I was a little nervous about this one but after I saw the trailers my hopes really kept growing and, honestly, I was not a bit disappointed about this movie.

More of that in a bit. First of all, a bit of a synopsis for this one: in Jumanji: The Next Level, the gang is back back but the game has changed. As they return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, they discover that nothing is as expected. The players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape the world’s most dangerous game.

So, basically, the central premise of this movie is not so different from the first one in terms of mission and context. It does have a bunch of elements from the movies that came before it, or the movie that came before it but it offers some cool new surprises and twists, challenging the viewer’s attention. Like the first one or the second one, it has some incredible action set pieces and it offers cool new levels and places with some nice imagery and visuals.

Acting level wise, while in the first one all of the actors were great, playing teenagers, in this one, however, although the acting is still good, especially from Jack Black, The Rock is not at his best here because he is trying, really trying to sound and behave like Danny DeVitto but he fails the task completely. Awkwafina is way better than the The Rock at doing a DeVitto impression. Kevin Hart also shines as a Danny Glover impressionist and Karen Gillan is also good.

Villain wise, it’s the same story as in the first one, with a jewel of some kind and a bad guy who wants the said jewel.

Overall, a well structured sequel, with some good fighting scenes, a lot of good humor and it’s also a very fun movie to watch but it’s not just that. It has that special something that elevates the movie over the lame action comedy that many sequels of this genre are. It has some emotions and some depth to it, which was surprising and unexpected. A good movie, with a not so different premise but still remaining original. Also, stay until after the credits because the next movie will, apparently, be a straight remake of the original. 7.5/10

Ok guys, that is my review for this one. Next up, I will do the whole entire Star Wars saga in preparation for The Rise of Skywalker. Until then, take care, stay movie nerdy and keep on movie reviewing!