"Jumanji: The Next Level" Review - Searching for Lost Lives

When the Jumanji sequel hit theaters last year and kept winning the box office over and over again, it turned into a surprise hit from what was supposed to be known as a blatant cash grab. I watched the sequel later after it came out and I will admit it did surprise me. Although I will say it’s so far out from what the original movie’s concept was that I’m hesitant to even call these two new pairs of movies related to the 90s classic. One must wonder how would you even make a 3rd Jumanji film after the game was literally broken down at the end of the last movie. It’s fair to say that “The Next Level” is filled with a lot of fun, even though the trailers pretty much spoiled the big secrets.

With al that said, this new Jumanji sequel is a great load of fun because it dives into new territory that definitely is unexpected. Watching The Rock and Kevin Hart pretend to be Danny Devito and Danny Glover respectively is worth the admission by itself. Jack Black acting like a black teenager will also keep you giggling all throughout. The film also explores new adventures within the game world and has a few other secrets in store.

All that aside, it does suffer in very strange ways when it comes to the script. There’s a lot from the trailers that’s not in the film that keep me puzzled in what else did this film have. There were three screenwriters who worked on this, as well as 6 producers, which really shouldn’t happen. I could just imagine so many disagreements going on with how the story should be crafted and what sacrifices and stakes should be made. There were a lot of spots in the film that had me puzzled, as if they edited parts out at the last minute, or decided to change some plot lines up to keep it more kid friendly or not as risky. A good chunk of the story threw me a lot of confusion, and sometimes just pure anger for not going far enough in what the words of the script were preaching. It’s as if there was a little too much editing and creative control which weighed this film’s quality down a bit too much.

I tread on attacking it too much because after all, this is one of those comedies that people just want to have a blast at. If that’s all you’re looking for, well then you’re in for a treat. I just was hoping for it to elevate to the next level. For some reason, it just wasn’t fully there.

One Nebs Up!