SPOILERS ALERT!!!
Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
Well, this was a lot of fun! I’ve seen ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ recently at the cinema. This is the sequel to ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ that was released in 2017 and the third film of the ‘Jumanji’ franchise. I enjoyed this film so much, finding it very satisfying and cleverly-written indeed.
I enjoyed ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ so much that I knew I was going to have a good time with ‘The Next Level’. I’d only seen the previous film once, but surprisingly it was easy to get into ‘The Next Level’. It was pretty audience-friendly, especially for those who hadn’t seen ‘Welcome to the Jungle’.
The film takes place a year after the events of the previous film. The four kids Spencer, Fridge, Martha and Bethany have gone their separate ways but are planning to meet up in Brantford. Whilst Fridge, Martha and Bethany are eager to see each other, Spencer isn’t, as he’s become apprehensive.
He’s sort-of broken up with his girlfriend Martha (I hate it when that happens in movies) and returns to his home where his mother as well as his grandfather Danny DeVito as Eddie are. Seeing Danny DeVito in this movie is so surreal, having seen him in ‘Matilda’ and recently in the 2019 film ‘Dumbo’.
When Fridge, Martha and Bethany want to see Spencer again, they soon discover that he’s gone back into the ‘Jumanji’ video game on his first night at his house. They decide to go back in there and rescue him. Touching the video game, they go back inside. Not everything goes according to plan. 😀
Martha returns back in the avatar of Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse, as before in the previous film. But instead of Spencer, Danny DeVito as Eddie is now in the avatar of Dwayne Johnson as Dr. Smolder Bravestone. Thinking of Danny DeVito inside the body of Dwayne Johnson is equally surreal!
Fridge, instead of ending up in Kevin Hart’s avatar as in the previous film, ends up in the avatar of Jack Black as Professor ‘Shelly’ Oberon. Who takes Kevin Hart’s avatar then? Well, that’s Danny Glover as Milo Walker inside the avatar of Kevin Hart as ‘Mouse’ Finbar. The game’s pretty messed up here! 😀
I’ve seen Danny Glover before in the 2006 remake of ‘The Shaggy Dog’. Milo happens to be the estranged friend of Eddie. They worked together running a café. Early on, Eddie isn’t happy to see Milo back. They go through this game to reconcile their differences as Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. 🙂
What about Bethany? Oh don’t worry! She eventually ends up in the game as a…black-winged horse named Cyclone. That’s quite different. 😀 She also acquires the help of Alex Vreeke from the previous film who ends up back in the body of Nick Jonas as ‘Seaplane’ McDonough like last time. 😀
Spencer meanwhile has ended up in the avatar of Awkwanfina as Ming Fleetfoot, who is a cat-burglar in the game. It does sound complicated as I write this, but I found how easy it was to pick things up with the film being so well-delivered in a coherent manner and with lots of fun and action involved.
I especially like how they resolved the issue of people’s mixed up avatars by going into some green-glowing water that switches bodies around. Spencer is back in Dwayne Johnson; Fridge is back in Kevin Hart and Bethany is back in Jack Black. Bethany seems happy to be back as Jack Black again. 😀
Danny DeVito’s Eddie also ends up in Awakwanfina as Ming and Danny Glover’s Milo ends up in Cyclone the horse. The film felt satisfying to watch, especially with plenty of action-packed set-pieces and lots of comedic moments. I found it easy to laugh watching this film, similar to me seeing the previous film.
My favourite comedic moment in the film has to be when Fridge as Kevin Hart’s avatar refuses to have cake offered to him and he goes into such a rage about it. Bethany as Jack Black goes “No, thank you” very politely about it. It was just so funny to watch, as it’s been well-built upon in these movies.
I’m amazed by how far Karen Gillan has come in terms of an actress, from being Amy Pond in ‘Doctor Who’ to Nebula in the ‘MCU’ movies to starring in the ‘Jumanji’ films. It’s nice to see Karen in these ‘Jumanji’ films. She provides the ‘Doctor Who’ link for me and she’s done so well as an actress!
‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ has been a worthwhile movie to watch at the cinema. I’m glad I saw it before Christmas this year. I knew I was going to have a good time watching this movie and the anticipation was well-paid. Who knows? Maybe they’ll get to make a third ‘Jumanji’ film before long.
I’m currently wondering if I’ll find ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ better than ‘Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker’. 😀
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
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