*Post Sponsored by Ster Kinekor, but I’m a cinephile & wordsmith, so this is my authentic, highly subjective review!
The overall feel-good film, is often blatantly self-aware; playing subtly to contemporary audiences need to not have action films and comedy (and most especially their stars), take themselves too seriously.
Jumanji: The Next Level literally highlights tropes, disparages them, and then plays right into them later – all with just enough comedic timing to not be too cringey & forced.
Break it down for me…
Taking off from previous instalment Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (which you don’t actually have to watch, to sort of get the gist of), a gang of friends living cities apart, are reluctantly pushed to rescue one of their estranged friends within the perilous Jumanji game world, during their own winter holiday break.
From the minute the game world rhythmically calls to them, to the moment they’re literally suckered in, Jumanji gives no quarter testing the limits of each anxious individuals understanding of: personality, physicality, adaptability, love, friendships, and the indomitable human spirit.
Okay, but like: Who all is in it?
A big shout-out to actress & rapper Awkwafina, currently endearing herself to world audiences (see: Crazy Rich Asians, Oceans 8), with her hilarious characterisations.
What Awkwafina does with the screen time she has in Jumanji: The Next Level, is both poignant, and humorously memorable enough to warrant a re-watch.
Even with a near all-star cast for Jumanji: The Next Level, that features industry legends Danny Glover & Danny DeVito, as well as heavy-hitting crowd favourite Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson & funnyman Kevin Hart, it is Jack Black that deserves some of the highest praise.
This is one movie where Jack Black does not “steal scenes”, as some critics would surmise – that’s reductive…an oversimplification, perhaps because this is considered (in some minds) ‘just’ another film with comedy.
The plot of Jumanji: The Next Level, forces Jacks Black’s form into different characters, and it is riveting how hilariously accurate he nails every person he’s got to be.
On a pure skills-assessment front, his evocation is some of the best you’ll, truthfully, ever see.
Shame on whoever chooses to find flaws within the latest instalment of the Jumanji fantasy action film, because Jack Black’s performance alone, makes for some of thee most enjoyable acting mastery, of 2019.
Is Movie-Watching Better with IMAX?
If you are fortunate enough to get to visit South Africa’s 8th IMAX Theatre – currently located at Cape Town’s Blue Route Mall – you’ll really figure out why it’s worth the hype.
Ster-Kinekor has been an institution for local movie-goers, for more than 2 decades.
In the time it has existed, learned and evolved, the company has also chosen to enhance the cinema experience – with the IMAX experience now.
IMAX means watching movies with 15 000w projectors – to emphasize IMAX‘s uniqueness: let’s note that these projectors are powerful enough for Stormtroopers to see them from the moon!
Based off of #IMAXBlueRoute alone, I can surmise that Booking your tickets for the upcoming releases of Jumanji: The Next Level, Frozen 2, or even Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, would mean your own crazy visual adventure!
Jumanji: The Next Level
Genre: Action/Adventure
Run time: 123 minutes
Director: Jake Kasdan
Rating: PG-13
In theatres: December 13, 2019
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Kid Warning: adventure action, suggestive content and some language
