Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

In 1995, Robin Williams starred in a movie where he played a man who had been trapped in a board game for decades. Bonnie Hunt and a young Kirsten Dunst went along for the ride and we watched jungle animals take over a small New England town.

That was Jumanji. And now twenty-something years later, Jumanji has been reborn for another generation. How is it? Let’s find out!

Beware snakes, stampeding rhinos and SPOILERS!


We open in 1996, where a jogger finds the Jumaji board game on a beach. He brings it home and gives it to his teenage son, Alex (Mason Guccione). Alex, though, isn’t impressed by it and prefers to continue playing his video game. So that night, Jumanji turns itself into a video game and entices Alex to play it. We then see an eerie green glow from his bedroom window before we fast forward 20 years and reveal his house is now a dilapidated shell of the beautiful white house we saw only minutes ago.

We are then introduced to video game aficionado and all around geek Spencer (Alex Wolff). He has a mom who is convinced everything in the world can hurt you and her overly cautious and scary view of the world has left Spencer with a fear of taking risks. He does take a couple, including doing football star Fridge’s (Ser’Darius Blain) homework so Fridge doesn’t get kicked off the team. It appears both he and his mother believe it’s his only option to succeed in life. The two meet in front of the rundown house, called Freak House, and Spencer gives Fridge the report. He tries to hang out with Fridge but Fridge brushes him off, accepting a ride from a cute girl. It’s hinted that they used to be friends but popularity (namely Fridge’s) drove them apart.

Spencer is then confronted by Alex’s father, now older and played by Tim Matheson. He warns the boy that the world is dangerous and Spencer stammers out an apology before running off. Alex’s father heads back into his house, looking like a zombie.

Our third player is Bethany (Madison Iseman), a rather self-absorbed teenage girl. She worries about her social media presence and seems to have just broken up with someone. All of this leads her to Facetime her best friend in the middle of class after a quiz. Her teacher (Maribeth Monroe) is flabbergasted and it only gets worse as Bethany shows a startling lack of concern for the students she is disturbing, focused on her pain. So the teacher gives her detention.

Spencer goes to gym and that’s where we meet our fourth player, Martha (Morgan Turner). The gym teacher, Coach Webb (Missi Pyle), tries to get Martha to participate in their football related class but she refuses. She says that gym is a waste of time and that she’ll never need to use any skills learned in gym since she’s not going to become a gym teacher. Coach Webb gives her detention while Spencer watches, awed. Until he is pulled out of class and told to report to the principal’s office. 

It turns out it’s been discovered that Spencer has been doing Fridge’s homework. He tried to take the blame to save Fridge but Principal Bentley (Marc Evan Jackson) saw right through it. He not only kicked Fridge off the football team, he gave them both detention.

So, all our players come together for detention. Principal Bentley gives them some Breakfast Club-esque speech about figuring out who they are and using detention to start doing so. He takes them to a storage room and says that it will be the school’s new computer lab but they need to clean it up. He has a bin full of magazines that are going to a shredding center but they need to have all the staples removed, so the teens will be removing said staples. He holds up a box of staple removers and tells them to pick their weapons and warns that their detention will continue until all the magazines have their staples removed.

Spencer and Martha actually do that. He tells Martha that he admired her for standing up to Coach Webb and she is pleased but flustered by his attention. She then snaps at Bethany, who is trying to get a signal on her phone. Fridge is exploring and he finds an old gaming system, complete with Jumanji. They decide to hook it up to a TV and give it a whirl, though Martha tries to get them to focus on the magazines. Spencer, Fridge and Bethany chose the remaining characters (one is already selected and unplayable) and finally convince Martha to play. She picks one character and they start the game—as a green light starts to pull them into the game as they all freak out.

We land in the jungle, seeing it from someone’s point of view until the camera pulls back to reveal Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson)—the character Spencer picked. The others then land and Spencer figures out who they are. Fridge is Franklin “Mouse” Finbar (Kevin Hart) and he freaks out over the fact he is now half the size he used to be, height-wise. Martha is uncomfortable with her character’s, Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), skimpy outfit while Bethany is horrified to learn that her character, Professor Shelly Oberon, is really a man (Jack Black).

Naturally, they freak out and try to figure out what’s going on. Spencer realizes they’ve been sucked into the game and wonder what they need to do to get out of it. They also each have three black lines on their arms which they soon learn are their lives when Bethany is eaten by a hippo. She comes back but is down a black line. They then flee the hippos and are rescued by a man in a Jeep.

The man is Nigel Billingsley (Rhys Darby) and he introduces himself to everyone, noting their respective skills. Bravestone is an adventurer, Finbar is a zoologist, Roundhouse is a skilled fighter and Oberon is a cartographer. He doesn’t respond to any of their questions, only repeating some of the things he has already said and Spencer realizes he’s just a preprogrammed bot in the game. Nigel kicks off the backstory of Jumanji, which everyone sees as Spencer explains it’s a cut scene.

Nigel explains that he was hired by Bravestone’s former partner and now enemy, Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale), to find the Jaguar’s Eye. It’s a precious stone that of course has magical powers—whoever has it can control the animals. Van Pelt takes it and his evil turns the animals wild, making Jumanji a dangerous place rather than a peaceful one. Nigel was able to steal the eye from Van Pelt and gives it to Spencer, asking the four of them to use their skills to return the stone to its proper place and restore peace to Jumanji.

They realize they have no choice but to play the game and Nigel hands them the stone as well as a map. He explains that they need to head to the bazaar to find the missing piece and that to win the game, they need to return the eye and call out Jumanji’s name. They thank him and leave him as he repeats his spiel again.

Meanwhile, an animal tells Van Pelt that Bravestone is there with backup. Van Pelt sends his gang of motorcycle riders out to deal with the players. He also can cough up creepy-crawlies, which is unnerving. It certainly gave me the heebie-jeebies.

Our heroes are now in a field and they decide to get to know their characters a bit better. Spencer figures out how to access his character profile, learning his strength is almost everything and he has no weaknesses. Fridge learns his weaknesses include running and cake while Martha’s weakness includes venom. Bethany realizes that her strengths allow her to read the map and everyone figures out that it is the level map. And that the Jumanji drums announce each level’s boss—this time, the motorcycle gang.

They fight off the motorcycle gang—mostly thanks to Spencer’s near indestructible powers—and figure out how to get to the bazaar. They hope it has the part of the map they are missing and set off through some rocky terrain.

However, the terrain isn’t all that’s rocky. The teens are bickering amongst themselves. Bethany and Martha accuse each other of not liking the other and so being mean. However, they realize that they have the same insecurities but cope with them in a different way—Bethany tries to get everyone to like her while Martha pushes everyone away so she doesn’t get hurt. Meanwhile, Fridge is still pissed off that Spencer got them caught and doesn’t seem to take any responsibility for what he did. Spencer also lets loose about how Fridge left him and Fridge says that Spencer was always the kid he wanted to lose.

Ouch.

After costing Spencer a life, the girls got them to chill out and work together so they could continue on to the bazaar. They all wanted out of the game, after all.

They make it to the bazaar as a raven lets Van Pelt know where they are. He decides that if he wants something done right, he’s going to have to do it himself and sets out for the bazaar.

At the bazaar, they realize they need to eat to get their health back up. Fridge tries some cake and everyone is concerned since it’s supposed to be his weakness. He figures it means he just won’t stop eating it…until he explodes. Fridge stays away from cake after that.

A young boy brings our heroes to the right spot and tells them that they have to work together to get a clue. They realize it involves getting past a venomous snake. Martha offers to stare it down but Spencer catches it when it tries to get her. Fridge is able to defang it and Bethany retrieves the clue—an elephant piece. It has a note wrapped around it, telling them that when they see the elephant, they’ll need to start the climb. However, they are still missing a piece of the map.

Van Pelt and his goons arrive in the bazaar and our heroes have to put up a fight. Spencer and Martha take the lead on this as their characters are trained fighters while Fridge and Bethany do whatever they can. However, it looks like it’s going to be a losing battle until they get some help from none other than Nick Jonas! He takes them into the sewers, getting them away from Van Pelt—for now.


Nick Jonas leads them through some booby traps as he gets them out of the bazaar. He says he’s excited to see them as he’s been trying to get out of Jumanji for a long time. Spencer realizes he’s Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough, the only character they weren’t able to play. He says he is and leads them to his house in the middle of the woods.

Well, actually, it’s Alan Parrish’s house—he built it during his time in Jumanji. And now, a moment for the late Robin Williams.

Seaplane—who asks to go by Alex—tells them that he’s been stuck in this level for a long time as he couldn’t get over the canyon. He failed in a hot air balloon and some monkeys got him when he tried a plane. Because he went down to his last life, he didn’t want to chance dying for good and just stopped trying. Instead, he stays in the house Alan built, drinking margaritas and doing everything to keep the mosquitos away—they are his weakness.

Bethany realizes that Alex is the real missing piece—they need all five players to finish the game. They convince Alex that they can get out of Jumanji if they work together and he agrees, guiding them through the next part of the game.

That next part is to get passed Van Pelt’s goons and pick a vehicle to get them to the next stage. Alex is pretty sure they have to fly over the ravine but they have to deal with the guards first. He knows of a back entrance but they need someone to distract the guards. They decide the best way is for Martha to go down and flirt with them so Bethany teaches her how to flirt.

As Martha flirts—badly—with the guards, Alex lets slip some slang that none of the others recognize. They grow even more concerned when he compares Ruby Roundhouse to Cindy Crawford, using her as a standard of beauty. While Cindy certainly still looks good today, she definitely would not be a modern teenage boy’s go-to. Concerned, Spencer asks Alex what year he thinks it is and they are horrified when he replies that it’s 1996. They realize he’s the boy who went missing and have to inform him that he’s been missing for twenty years. It’s definitely a shock and a sobering moment for Alex.

They don’t have much time to ponder it though. Van Pelt’s goons show up and they have to get out of there. Thankfully, music starts to play as Martha remembers one of Ruby’s strengths is dance fighting. She starts to dance along to the song and incapacitates the guards. Inside the barn, Bethany praises Martha as the guys decide they need to escape in the helicopter. Alex, though, starts to panic because he’s never succeeded in getting past this level but they convince him he has to do it.

So they all pile into the helicopter and Alex pilots it out of the barn, heading over the ravine. However, something hits something out of whack and Spencer has to fix it as they fly over a stampede of rhinos. There are a few nail-biting moments but Spencer fixes it and the helicopter starts to rise. Unfortunately, Fridge accidentally drops the Jaguar’s Eye and they need to retrieve it from the rhinos. Spencer apologizes to Fridge and pushes him out of the helicopter, knowing he will be trampled by the rhinos. They retrieve the jewel and catch Fridge when he’s returned to the game, down one life.

They make it over the ravine and Alex lands the helicopter. They all celebrate—Alex especially so. Until he’s bitten by a mosquito and passes out. They all worry about him dying but Bethany the most. She starts to perform CPR on him and Martha realizes she’s giving him one of her lives. Bethany does it willingly and Alex thanks her.

Meanwhile, everyone else realizes that Spencer has a crush on Martha. They encourage him to tell her and he does, insisting that he likes Martha and not Ruby. She admits that she likes Spencer (not Smolder) back and they share a very awkward first kiss.

Night starts to fall and Van Pelt closes in on them as they arrive at the final level. Torches light a path leading up the mountain but they decide that’s too easy. Spotting an elephant statue and remembering the clue in the bazaar, Spencer starts to climb up a tree but is deterred by a squirrel. He’s disheartened and admits to Fridge that he can’t do it. Fridge uses one of his football plays as Van Pelt draws near and calls upon the jaguars that guards the mountains.

They all split up and face down different foes. Fridge is nearly trampled by an elephant but manages to control it. Spencer and Van Pelt face off and Van Pelt demands the stone. But Spencer doesn’t have it—Fridge does, hence why the elephant did his bidding. The stone does briefly get knocked out of Fridge’s hands but Martha offers to go get it while Spencer takes a motorcycle to the top—Alex and Bethany holding off the goons. Martha finds the stone surrounded by snakes and carefully makes her way to it. Van Pelt then blocks her so she stomps a snake, letting it bite her so the venom will kill her. She re-enters the game from the sky, dropping the stone right into Spencer’s hands as he approaches the eye.

Spencer places the jewel in the spot and then tries to figure out what he’s supposed to do next. Bethany remembers and yells that they have to say Jumanji. So they all shout Jumanji and a wave of magic bursts out from the eye. Van Pelt is destroyed and his gang disappears as the land returns to a sunny, peaceful place once more.

Nigel shows up and thanks them for helping restore Jumanji. He then tells them that they can go home, shaking each one’s hand. As he does, they each disappear from the game. Spencer has a moment where he panics, not wanting to leave his newfound confidence behind but he realizes he can take it with him. So he shakes Nigel’s hand and leaves Jumanji.

The four teens return to the basement of the high school. Bethany wonders where Alex went and they try to find him. As they walk home from school, they notice the Freak House has been restored to its white glory and Tim Matheson doesn’t look like the crypt keeper. A little girl races up to him as a woman and a man get out of a minivan, the man carrying a baby carrier. He gives it to the wife and asks her for a minute, going over to the gang and revealing he’s grown up Alex (Colin Hanks in what seems to be an uncredited role as I can’t find a credit for him anywhere but Wikipedia). He explains he went back to 1996 and thanks them. He tells Bethany that he named his daughter after her and she’s touched.

All of this took place around Christmas, judging by the decorations everywhere. When we next see the teens, they are returning to school after Christmas break. They all seem more confident and Bethany is expanding her horizons, surprising her friend by wanting to do some outdoor hobbies. Spencer and Martha share a kiss outside of school as Fridge and Bethany cheer them on. They then hear the familiar drums of Jumanji and destroy it with a bowling ball, hoping no one else will be drawn into it again.

Of course, the credits roll to “Welcome to the Jungle.”

So how was it? It was enjoyable and a good follow up to the original movie. It didn’t try to replicate it but built on the mythology while updating it for a modern audience. The nod to Alan Parrish was a nice touch and answered what he did while he was trapped in the game.

The movie was also incredibly well cast. The Rock has both an action-adventure bent while being really good at comedy, so he was able to capture the neurotic teenager within very well. I’ve loved Karen Gillan from her days on Doctor Who and I’m glad to see her getting a chance to shine looking like herself rather than painted blue. Kevin Hart was hilarious as usual but I think Jack Black stole it all. He was able to embody a teenage girl without seeming insulting or like a caricature. He conveyed Bethany’s journey pretty well. Kudos to him!

There seemed to be set arcs for everyone but Fridge, which confuses me. Spencer learns to be brave and take risks, Martha learns to let people in, Bethany learns to care about other people and Fridge…is Fridge. I mean, I guess he learns to be friends with Spencer again but it seems like it would’ve been nice for him to realize that football is not all he’s good at and that he’s actually smart.

Jumanji was filmed in Hawaii and so the sets are gorgeous. All the effects were well done, I wasn’t able to tell any CGI animals from real ones. So bravo to the effects team.

Bottom line: Jumanji is a fun and enjoyable romp. Definitely worth a movie night!