![]() They need to work together to survive various lethal obstacles (rhinos, hippos, wildcats, Bobby Cannavale) and restore a precious gem to its rightful place atop a mountain. The plot is by the numbers, but that’s okay since the characters are inside a game in which the plot is by the numbers. The upshot is that Dwayne Johnson (playing a nerd who finds himself in Dwayne Johnson’s body) gazes on his own humongous biceps with the same kind of amazement that the rest of us do, while Karen Gillan (the repository of the brainy misfit girl) looks down at her impossibly long legs as if thinking, “How do I walk on these things?” Jack Black (inhabited by a blonde high-school girl) simpers in horror at his own squat reflection, while the diminutive pop-top Kevin Hart - the avatar of a black kid built like a linebacker - screams, “Where’s the rest of me?” In the 21st-century version, four very different kinds of teenagers in detention - yes, it’s a Breakfast Club redux - get whisked into a jungle cyberworld where they find themselves inhabiting wildly inapposite avatars. In the 1995 film, players of the mysterious board game Jumanji found their reality invaded by sundry animal, human, and insect predators. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a sequel to and not a remake of the agreeable 1995 Jumanji (starring Robin Williams and the young Kirsten Dunst) based on Chris Van Allsburg’s wonderful 1981 book. The movie has amusingly broad performances good, bloodless scares (the characters die horribly - but have multiple lives) and self-empowering life lessons too bland to be specious. ![]() ![]() Move on to the next screen at the multiplex (plug your ears if you’re passing The Greatest Showman) and see Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) didn’t exploit “freaks” by charging people money to point at them and jeer - he actually gave them a sense of self-worth! My colleague Emily Yoshida dissects the “incredibly specious empowerment metaphor holding up this rinky-dink tent” with painful accuracy - and should get combat pay for attempting to transcribe the numbskull lyrics. Looking for a lively, wholesome movie to see with the family this holiday season? The obvious choice is The Greatest Showman, the musical that demonstrates how circus impresario P.T. ![]()
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