Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle Lives up to Original

By Hailey Massey |

Sony Pictures

Diving into the unknown terrain of the jungle, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle brings out all the elements of an adventure film- a thrill seeking plot, a twist that changes the entire theme of the film, and a cast with the drive to make the film live up to the original one. Jumanji will draw you in much like the famed board game did in the original film and you’ll be mesmerized by the thickening, developing plot that the film provides.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle came out on December 5, 2017 and was ranked #2 in the box office. It’s overall genres include action, fantasy and of course adventure. Directed by Jake Kasdan and produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment, the film runs for one hour and 58 minutes and is rated PG-13. The cast of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is full of well known actors such as Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan and Nick Jonas.

The film is a continuation of the 1995 version stars Robin Williams, who passed in 2014, and follows the story of a young boy being sucked into a board game and years later being found when two children discover the very same board game and sets him free. The concept of the game sucking the people who play it into Jumanji is translated into the new film but, the rest of the original theme is not.

Seeing that the 2017 film is a sequel and a modern outlook on the original film, the world of Jumanji is a prominent theme in the plot, but with a twist. It takes the concept of the world of jumanji from inside the board game and puts you inside the jungle through an old school video game version of the board game.

Overall, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle lives up to the original, and the beginning of the film ties into the end of the 1995 version perfectly creating a seamless transition from the old to new. However, the ending of the movie was patchy in comparison to the smooth beginning. It felt rushed, even though the movie runs for over one hour, but you can almost ignore that due how intriguing the overall storyline is.