Jumanji getting a reboot

[CyberCubed]

I actually just watched Jumanji 1995 2 days ago for the first time since I was a kid. It's a fun movie, but it's still a kids movie. If you don't have any nostalgia for it you might not enjoy it as much as those of us who watched it as kids.

Also seeing a young Kirsten Dunst is weird as hell. I totally forgot she was in the movie.

[Andrew NDB]

Saw it. It's really good! I consistently laughed throughout. There is a good dichotomy between their avatars in the central story and their real life teenage selves that pays off at different points. It's a requel that does it right... it really does pick up right where the original left off (like, literally, in 1996) but the main meat, the middle (which is 91% of the movie) is entirely different. There is a lot of humor that works. There is some misses but more hits than not. I am never super impressed with Kevin Hart doing the same part he does in every movie, or filling the exact roles that Chris Rock would have a decade ago, but he's good... and I hated "Central Intelligence" (also starring The Rock and Hart). There is some big nods to the original, one that was really poignant that honors Robin Williams' character and essentially the man himself. And if you haven't seen the original, don't worry, you won't notice. But you'll be rewarded if you have.

Also, I saw the first one for the first time last night. I'd never seen it ever. I think I avoided it because even as a kid, the trailers seemed dodgy... a board game? Rhinos? What? It is pretty good. It definitely goes to darker places than the new movie, but also has the same whimsy. The ending parts have a lot of heart and effectively pull the heartstrings. The new movie pulls them also at the end, not quite as strongly but effectively. There is a slight inconsistency when comparing the two endings that anyone who has watched both will notice, but I didn't mind.

If you're thinking about watching the new Jumanji I'd recommend. It's funny. It's got the feels.

If I had a gripe, and this is kind of spoilery,

Spoiler:

it's that the actual world of Jumanji is left a little nebulous. It's sort of implied and reimplied that it is this kind of video game role playing game (which brings up other, bigger questions like who made this game and for what to what end? I'd kind of like to see that movie) that repeats itself in different scenarios. What are the stakes here? Are any of the people in "The jungle" real? Was Jumanji actually in peril or was it just a game scenario? I'm not sure, really. I guess it's not important, but...

[Allio]

I know it’s impossible, but is there any Zathura references?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Allio

I know it’s impossible, but is there any Zathura references?

I don't think so. But then I've never seen Zathura.

[sdp]

Looks like it's a decent but nothing amazing movie which is fine because Jumanji really isn't anything that amazing either. I still think it's dumb they changed the board to a video game but I'll be checking it out.

Zathura is the same as Jumanji only with Sci-Fi tropes, the movie is ok, it just isn't as fun as Jumanji.

But why is this being released along Star Wars? Do they want it to die? Do they forget how big Jumanji was able to get in the 90s, this could've been similar if released in the spring or even the summer.

[TigerClaw]

Its got an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jum..._to_the_jungle

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by sdp

Looks like it's a decent but nothing amazing movie which is fine because Jumanji really isn't anything that amazing either. I still think it's dumb they changed the board to a video game but I'll be checking it out.

It's explained pretty well in the movie. I'm not kidding, it begins right where the first one ended, with the board game in the beach.

[ProphetofGanja]

Well that's pretty heartening news, Andrew. I had high hopes for this movie since I loved the first one so much. I'm glad the new one is decent at least

[TigerClaw]

Its certified fresh with a 79% on RT.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jum..._to_the_jungle

[ranger_scout]

I saw the film this afternoon and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I thought it was a funny action-packed adventure. I also liked how this movie took the audience inside of the game this time around. In the original the game had come to our world, but we never got explore what the jungle was really like. That was one of the big reasons why this sequel worked.

Spoiler:

I like how the opening was in 1996 and it was neat how the board game saw the video game and decided to make itself one. The cast had terrific chemistry and the adult actors were believable as kids who had transformed into video game characters. Unlike the ending of the first one where the year resets to 1969 after the game is finished, the players from the current time period were sent back to the present and they remembered the experience. The player who had spent years in the game got another chance to start over and he meets the others in their true forms and thanks them. The game is destroyed at the very end, but we will see if it's really gone for good.

As for the reference to Alan Parish (Robin Williams' character):

Spoiler:

Nick Jonas' character find the hut that served as his home while he was trapped inside it and his name was carved in the wood.

[ProphetofGanja]

Just saw this yesterday, I enjoyed it quite a lot. I thought the reasoning behind making the board game a video game was reasonably well done. The acting by the main cast was pretty good; Jack Black as Bethany as Professor Shelly Oberon was great. Kevin Hart's usual schtick was different enough to work in this film and the Rock was good as always. I'm still getting familiar with Karen Gillian but she's been good as Nebula in the Marvel movies.

As far as the ending goes...

Spoiler:

If Jumanji can transform itself from a board game to a video game then I'm pretty sure it could reconstitute itself from a pile of broken electronics to whatever it needs to be next to make people play it.

Which raises the question, why does Jumanji exist? It seems like it wants to test kids and push them to their limits to better themselves, but where did it come from?

I think they could make another movie in the series work, they could change the format of the game again if they wanted and they could even explore the actual origins of Jumanji, which I think could be pretty interesting

[Allio]

Heck a theory is that even the jungle theme is merely just an aesthetic it can change, that Zathura is Jumanji in a Sci-fi state

[sdp]

Originally Posted by Allio

Heck a theory is that even the jungle theme is merely just an aesthetic it can change, that Zathura is Jumanji in a Sci-fi state

But why would it go back to being a board game? And since this movie starts where the first one ended it'd be hard to make it work in continuity, I love the idea though.

Originally Posted by ProphetofGanja

As far as the ending goes...

Spoiler:

If Jumanji can transform itself from a board game to a video game then I'm pretty sure it could reconstitute itself from a pile of broken electronics to whatever it needs to be next to make people play it.

Which raises the question, why does Jumanji exist? It seems like it wants to test kids and push them to their limits to better themselves, but where did it come from?

I think they could make another movie in the series work, they could change the format of the game again if they wanted and they could even explore the actual origins of Jumanji, which I think could be pretty interesting

Did you ever watch the cartoon? it's a new continuity but it actually dwells on the origins of Jumanji and its history, it introduces a lot of new ideas/characters and mythology and yet it works out really well. It's not in continuity with the film and tells its own story and has an ending, i recommend it.

[Allio]

Originally Posted by sdp

But why would it go back to being a board game? And since this movie starts where the first one ended it'd be hard to make it work in continuity, I love the idea though.

Well I mean more of the book. Unlike the original and zathura, “Welcome to the jungle” isn’t based on a book.

Which you already have a disconnect between the movies as the original creator didn’t like the jumanji movie and references to Jumanji was cut out of the Zathura film.

Though if you want to go the “psychological” road of Jumanji. The game changes all depending on the need. A board game maybe needed for some physical theme while a “digital” form maybe needed for those that are disconnected

Though if you want to get technical, breaking the law of space and time isn’t uncommon for jumanji

I won’t deny. I like the idea of someone creating a bunch of different games just to *uck with people