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At this time of year, a whole lot of kids are wishing for new video games from Santa. But in Jumanji: The Next Level, the follow-up to 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, four young people end up back inside a video game, trying to rescue a friend.
Jumanji: The Next Level finds the four friends from the previous film eagerly planning to reunite over the holidays. But Spencer (Alex Wolff) returns home feeling disconnected from his friends and from their old adventures. When he misses brunch with the rest of the gang, they go to his house and discover that he’s gone back into the game. They decide to go in and save him, but things don’t go as planned. Not only has the game changed, but they’ve somehow brought Spencer’s Grandpa Eddie (Danny DeVito) and his old friend, Milo (Danny Glover), with them.
As soon as the characters are dropped back into the game, they face all kinds of new complications, which offer all kinds of new comic possibilities. This time around, the whole team has changed. Some end up in new avatars, while others have gone missing—and they’ve been replaced by a couple of old guys who have absolutely no idea what’s going on. And, to make matters worse, they have to trek through completely new and unfamiliar environments, facing all new challenges.
Of course, there’s also a task at hand—and in order to get back home, they’ll have to retrieve a magical gem from a vicious warrior to return the land to peace and prosperity. But, really, the movie isn’t about the mission; it’s about the characters and their stories. Eddie and Milo have years of hard feelings to overcome. Spencer needs to get out of his funk. And despite the unexpected twists in their adventure, the characters have to find a way to work together to get back home.
Granted, nothing here is really new or exceptional. If you saw Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, you know what to expect here. You can expect plenty of outrageous action (featuring ostriches and mandrills), lots of laughs, and some fun performances by Dwayne Johnson and (especially) Kevin Hart. And that’s more than enough to make it worth packing up the kids and heading to your favorite theater.
If you feel like you’ve been on your own deadly journey through gift-giving and holiday parties this season, you deserve a few good laughs. Jumanji: The Next Level may not be a brilliant action-comedy, but it’s just what you need to get you through this hectic time of year.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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