Ben Oliver

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Jumanji: The Next Level

Did I die and turn into a small muscular boy scout?
30 August 2020

A sequel to the 2017 hit. Some kids get trapped in a video game again, but this time a couple of old men get sucked in too. They must fight their way through various adventures to be able to leave.

These movies seem to be a real success on many fronts, but they just aren’t grabbing me for some reason. The body swapping comedy has some mileage in it, and this sequel finds new ways to play on that, but for whatever reason it’s not even remotely getting a laugh out of me.

The plot consists of going from A to B then B to C, jumping over various obstacles to get there. I’m sure you can write this off as being a ‘video game’, but surely there are ways to get a bit more ambitious? Instead it’s purely wacky characters doing wacky things.

Clearly I’m in the minority that don’t see the appeal of Jumanji—your mileage may vary.