The 2017 holiday hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was a fantastic reboot teaming up the comedic chops of The Rock, Kevin Heart and Jack Black in a hilarious fish-out-of-water comedy where four very different high school seniors (Spencer, Fridge, Martha and Bethany) are transported into the Jumanji video game, having to overcome their differences and ego’s to not only survive the game but get home to reality.
The 2019 version, The Next Level, is the same exact thing, minus the element of surprise and genuine dislike the previous characters had for one another. In other words there’s nothing really new or good about it.
But alas, director Jake Kasden tries, this time bringing in Spencer’s grandfather Eddie (Danny DeVito) and his former business partner Milo (Danny Glover) into the fold with the backdrop of them haven’t been on speaking terms for the past 15 years after they gave up their restaurant (ohh, this must be our inner turmoil).
But why the heck are we back in Jumanji to begin with? After nearly dying in the video game prior and having rescued the first youngster in the game who had been trapped there for 30 years, why on earth would this group go back?
Teen angst? Insecurity? Like a lot of typical characters you see doing bad decisions in horror movies, this one ranks up there with, Yeah… you idiot you kind of deserve to die.
Anyhow, Spencer’s real life as a freshman at NYU has him humbled and depressed. He isn’t Dr. Bravestone (The Rock avatar in the film) anymore and he doesn’t have the fearlessness, biceps and smoldering look of his former avatar so he builds the game back up after it was destroyed and enters once again, hoping to rekindle that confidence he once felt.
Subliminally I get the analogy of kids today getting lost in video games, which is closer to real-life than fiction, however, this is real world danger. Danger that the rest of the gang decides is worth it as they go back in to save Spencer, however, they unknowingly bring with them the AAPR members, Eddie and Milo who somehow manage to become the Hart and Rock characters, which in return fills this story with lovely dad and grandpa jokes.
But this gets us to the fun of Jumanji, seeing the Rock, Kevin Hart and Jack Black play different characters within their avatars and their ensuing hijinks. The laughs tend to hit and miss and honestly feel a bit bland because original sparing between Fridge and Spencer as Hart and the Rock is far superior then that of Milo and Eddie. And even within the game itself the challenges and villain they must confront are rather tame and forgettable (Sorry Hound).
We come for the laughs but get little more than repeated gimmicks and lack of drama, which may make it a bad film or simply suggest that some games are better left played once.
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