Watched Jumanji (1995) again during the return flight from Montreal.
Directed by Joe Johnston who started career as production artist on Star Wars, and while he is not terribly popular as a director, he has action classics such as Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989), Rocketeer (1991) and Captain America (2011). His films are often heavy on visual effects, and old ones such as Jumanji do not hold up well anymore. The effects were fairly impressive at that time, but today they reek of bad 90s CGI.
Thankfully, Jumanji has a heart in the story. It’s about a boy who learns to be a parent through overcoming a flood of danger with orphans (sounds similar to Aliens), and Robin Williams’ acting elevates the film from otherwise forgettable CGI movie. The kids in the film are not bad. One of them is Kirsten Dunst. Also, the main antagonist doubles as the main character’s father, which is a very nice touch.
It is a bit cheesy film, which you can see in overall acting direction and the rather comical tone and quality of the visual effects, but it manages to stand above the crowd of films from that time thanks to the well written script and Williams’ acting. I have a fond memory for the film, and I’ll have to admit it sits probably around okay–good range for most people, therefore 6.5/10
The best way to follow up would be to not use the same game board, but take a similar idea but get more creative. In that sense, Zathura (2005) seems like a great idea. I haven’t seen it before, but I will soon.
The new Jumanji (2017) starring Dwayne Johnson sounds like a terrible idea to me. Can Johnson really play a dramatic role, or is he basically going to be just another Brendan Fraser?
—toshi omagari
Flommist Toshi Omagari fights many things, most recent of which is the auto-correction of his title to florist. Copyright © 2017 Toshi Omagari.
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