Back in 1995, Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt starred in a unique action-adventure film wherein their characters became part of a board game. That was the first Jumanji. In 2017, Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Nick Jonas starred in an updated version of that first film as each of their characters became avatars within a video game. That was Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. It’s now two years later and the crew has reunited, but it would seem rather unwittingly because the video game is damaged. Welcome then, to Jumanji: The Next Level.
The gang of Spencer Gilpin (Alex Wolff), Fridge Johnson (Ser’Darius Blain), Martha Kaply (Morgan Turner), and Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman) stayed in contact after emerging from the world of Jumanji two years ago. Spencer and Martha actually started dating in real life but have kind of been growing apart recently. As the Christmas holiday approaches, the three send Spencer a text saying that they should reunite in their hometown diner; something Spencer doesn’t necessarily want to happen.
Spencer comes home to find that his Grandpa Eddie (Danny DeVito) has moved into his room and that they’ll be roommates for the holidays. Eddie has been estranged from his old business partner, Milo Walker (Danny Glover) since Milo sold his part of the business. Missing how strong he felt as the character Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson) in the game, Spencer tries to fix the damaged cartridge in hopes of playing it again, but something happens.
Bethany, Martha, and Fridge figure out that Spencer has returned to Jumanji and the only way of rescuing him is for them to play the game as well. When they do enter the virtual world though, things are different. Martha is still Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan) but Fridge ends up in Professor Shelly Oberon (Jack Black) while Bethany is initially missing. They’re all shocked to find Grandpa Eddie as Dr. Bravestone while Milo is occupying Franklin “Mouse” Finbar (Kevin Hart), or where Fridge used to be.
Jumanji itself is glitching as a new villain, Jurgen the Brutal (Rory McCann), has arisen and the game has become even more unpredictable. Martha and Fridge have to deal with educating Eddie and Milo on how the game works and what their abilities are while also searching for Spencer and Bethany, as well as trying to survive this even more dangerous version of Jumanji.
Needless to say, anyone who will be watching Jumanji: The Next Level needs to at least watch Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle first in order to be familiar with the characters. That familiarity is critical, especially later in The Next Level when a couple of things happen that involves avatar-switching again for these characters. The undeniable chemistry between Johnson and Hart has been evident in several films now but this movie allows them to add another twist: Johnson trying to act like DeVito and Hart doing his best impression of Glover). Black also switches from playing airhead Bethany previously to the frustrated jock that is Fridge this time around.
By adding the element of a damaged Jumanji for the characters to navigate, Director Jake Kasdan and his crew explore other areas of Jumanji beyond the old jungle setting while also allowing for glitches like enemies multiplying for no reason or non-playable characters making no sense to take place. A new avatar Ming Fleetfoot played by Awkwafina and a returning Seaplane McDonough (Nick Jonas) both provide continuity while also injecting more new life into the franchise.
At its core, Jumanji: The Next Level is a film on friendships and relationships that have grown apart for different reasons, but when push comes to shove, those friendships have strong roots and the people involved in them are better together. The mid-credits scene also seems to promise yet another Jumanji film following this edition, and it looks like it will be more in the vein of the original Williams-Hunt film from 1995 next time around.
About the Author:
Jason Inocencio was once the Digital Editor of adobo magazine who still loves seeing great campaigns from all over the world. He proudly shows off his love for all kinds of geeky things, whether it be movies, TV shows, comics, sports, or trivia.
