Jumanji: The Next Level Movie Review

Paint By Numbers: The Movie

A few days ago, I went and saw Jumanji: The Next Level with some friends of mine. Well, I can say this, Danny Devito should not do slapstick.

Jumanji: The Next Level is a continuation from the previous Jumanji film that came out back in 2017. Same character same plot, new backdrops.

I'm not going into the plot really because it's not worth the time to write it out. I was so bored watching this film I wanted to fall asleep. My gosh darn eyes refused to do so, which honestly sucks. Going into Jumanji: The Next Level I thought it would be a bad film, but I could at least have some fun with it. Oh, I was wrong. There is little to no fun to be had with this film. The script is bland and cliche, the acting is poor, and they hold back from making this an interesting film.

I don't know who the writers were for this film, and frankly, I'm not going to look them up. I don't want to give them credit. This script really is paint by numbers. Go to location A and do X, go to location B and do Y, You win! Ugh!!! It's so freaking frustrating the lack of effort placed into this film. Which is surprising since the environments are actually pretty good, but they barely do anything with them!

I have to say this, and it's not really a spoiler since it happens within like the first half hour of the film. Okay, here it goes, what the film tries to pass off as humor was Danny Devito tripping over a chair. They try to make it look like slapstick, but they fail miserably. It looks just like a guy fell over a chair, but they try and play it up with Danny Devito over acting the scene. Which I'm surprised, because I know Danny Devito can do way better, the guy is a good actor. I don't know why I just wrote a paragraph to what was probably less than 10 seconds of screen time, but it pissed me off how lazy the scene was.

They have a solid cast, but most of the actors look like they're here just for the paycheck and hey, I don't blame them. However, they could have turned this into a "it's so bad it's good" type of movie, but they don't seem like they're even having fun with it. The only actor who consistently got a chuckle out of me was Kevin Hart. I applaud you Kevin Hart, good job. 

What's also really infuriating is the backdrops to the film. They obviously made some good environments for the story to play around with, but they go bare bones with the settings. I'd love for them to have played around with it more, but no, they can't do that!

Jumanji: The Next Level is a forgettable movie. It won't be remembered in a couple of weeks from now. I hate kicking off the year with a bad film, but at least I got to spend some time with my friends. Save your money and do NOT see, Jumanji: The Next Level.

Final Score: 2.5/5