Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

Directed by: Jake Kasdan | 123 minutes | action, adventure | Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Awkwafina, Nick Jonas, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Madison Iseman, Ser’Darius Blain, Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, Rhys Darby, Colin Hanks, Rory McCann, Marin Hinkle

The expectations that people have of some films are so low that it is almost nil. Take ‘The Hangover’ for example. There was absolutely no hype around this release and the production appeared quite anonymously in the cinemas. However, this film unexpectedly became a huge hit. The same was true for the reboot of ‘Jumanji’ from 2017. Did anyone expect this Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson to be a hit? Could this retelling of the 1995 classic of the same name starring the late Robin Williams even stand in the shadow of the original? Of course. To keep the franchise’s success going, a sequel has been canned. Enter ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’.

In ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ the cast returns to – or rather in – the computer game of the same name. When the heroes are in the game, they notice that the game has changed. New levels and challenges have been added. Survival just got a whole lot harder!

Just as with the aforementioned ‘The Hangover’, there is also talk of too much too soon in ‘Jumanji’. This sequel is a repetition of moves and does nothing new. That in itself is not a bad thing, because most sequels owe their existence to the popularity of the predecessor. Because the surprise effect is gone and there is an expectation pattern at once, the film disappoints. This sequel is not as fresh as the predecessor and many jokes are milked.

This is a bread movie. A production that is intended to fill the cash of the film studio. There is no artistic drive behind this. ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ looks nice, has a strong cast including Kevin Hart and The Rock and has neat special effects. Nice to see once, but no more than that.