Official Synopsis
When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped for decades in it and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.
Jumanji is an interesting film that is hated and loved by critics — I’m not sure there is a middle-ground for it, but I am sure we have all misspelled the title about a ba-jillion times, which might account for a bit of the hatred. In all seriousness, for me, it’s a dark tale with danger around ever corner and a good collection of decent actors that become great as a group. Oh, there is a deadly board game in there too.
So many dangerous board games in the 90s.
Let’s get right to this, folks.
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Act one of Jumanji is set up well, as we get an ancient origin of the Jumanji board game and how many lives it ruins, specifically focusing on a boy named Alan Parrish (Robin Williams) from the 1960s. When Parrish finds the game at a construction site and opens it up, he is transported into it and trapped until a pair of bored kids, Judy (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter (Bradley Pierce), find the game and release Parrish after nearly 30 years being gone. Along with Parrish, the kids are forced to join the game and work their way through it to win it before their tiny town gets destroyed by the game’s occupants (mostly monkeys and jungle animals).
The first act is creepy. Director Joe Johnston does a great job with bringing the importance of the Jumanji board game to life, as well as its consequences for participating. He uses his characters to establish the real danger of the game, as well as making his characters real through solid and direct development. You could not have asked for a better act one, as it makes you care for everyone involved. When you can do that with so many players, you’re weaving a good story.
Once released from their confines, all the antagonist and protagonist in the story truly shine and their actions/motivation to get the game finished before it’s too late happens quickly, as well as properly. Act two shines in the action department. The action starts light and slow, but builds into more as ante is constantly raised with each roll of the dice. Along the way, the story helps fill in the missing blanks to Alan’s 30 year absence, which is tragic and sad.
Act two packs the most tension out of all the acts and creates a real sense of danger around every corner. It also introduces a few characters into the budding storyline, and all make sense within its world. What I find most fascinating about this act, outside of all the violent happenings caused by the game, is the uncertain, crazy intentions of Robin Williams’ Alan Parrish. The scene where he is talking to his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Whittle (Bonnie Hunt), is borderline creepy. His unstable, obviously scarred character is a far cry from the friendly face on the cover. Thankfully, he doesn’t take it too far over the edge, but rather keeps it confined and believable for Alan’s damaged life. In fact, you could say that crazed look fits the bill for a character that has lost his parents, 30 years of life and everything he knew and loved. In short, the film’s lead is far darker than most people expect, but it makes sense within the story.
As act three crescendos into chaos, the movie struggles just a bit trying to match the tense excitement that it established in act two and has a tough time finding a way out of it all. While the movie does end predictably, it’s a pleasant resolve that makes you feel like maybe you’ve been on a great adventure.
Overall, I enjoyed Jumanji. Director Joe Johnston and the bevy of fun actors that fit the bill for the story (by the way, special kudos to David Alan Grier for his great role as Carl Bentley — he was hilarious) make for an entertaining, though dark adventure.
On the Blu-ray side of things, the movie was solid in transfer, though I have to say the special effects didn’t age well. I’m sure Sony Pictures wasn’t going to go LucasFilm on this release and redo the effects to update them to today’s standards, but they were noticeably aged. Not a big deal, though. Anyway, the transfer is solid and SPHE did a great job with it. Definitely worthy of Blu-ray status.
In terms of features, here’s what to expect:
– Reflections on Jumanji
– Jumanji Motion Storyboard as read by author Chris Van Allsburg
– Episodes from Jumanji: The Animated Series
– Original Theatrical Trailers
– Jumanji Jungle Adventure Virtual Board Game
– Special Effects Crew Commentary (bless them)
– Three Behind-the-scenes Featurettes
– Storyboard comparisons
A good amount of features here, though the Goosebumps featurettes didn’t really add much rich value to the package. The rest is good, though.
