Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Fair warning to parents who want to take their kids to this film: It is NOT  for young children. It is PG-13, not PG. And, boy, does it earn that 13. Although the movie is hilarious, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, a lot of the dialogue is really crass. There are sexual references and profanity throughout the film. I'd say if you were okay with your kid watching the  "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies, it's about that same level, but I still urge you to use your discretion. I think the idea behind this was "This is for the kids who grew up with the 1995 original and are adults now so let's make it "edgy."" So dumb, and so unnecessary. As for the quality of the actual film, I did enjoy it. I was worried that the jokes would get stale, especially since for the most part they are essentially repeated, but they actually got funnier as the film went on. It took the original premise, set it in modern day, and actually had a pretty good message behind it about loving yourself for who you are and making the most of life. So it's a shame this had to be so crass. What were you thinking, Sony? I thought the film was hilarious in the parts that weren't crass and those really worked, so why couldn't the whole film have been like this? It would have actually been better as a PG. Making something more "adult" ironically makes it more "childish." There was a parent at my screening who brought their young child to this film and they left halfway through because she got sick of all the inappropriate dialogue and innuendo. (Which I realize is redundant). This felt like a parody of the original, while also honoring the original, (including a mild 5-second shoutout to Robin Williams' character from the original) and had some good action scenes. It's not only a mild parody of adventure games but also the tropes of the characters from those games. (Invincible hero, smart mouthed comic relief, strong female character). It was clever and I can tell the actors had a lot of fun making it. At points, it even felt like a Guardians of the Galaxy film. So, yeah, great, hilarious movie. Just don't take your young kids to it.

Grade: A-   9/10   4/5 stars