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No Disney theme park adventure is complete without a ride down the river on the Jungle Cruise, a ride that’s loaded with both action and bad jokes. So it seems perfectly natural that Dwayne Johnson, with his talents for both combat and cheese comedy, would head up the popular attraction’s movie adaptation.
Jungle Cruise travels to the Amazon with botanist Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her brother, MacGregor (Jack Whitehall), on a quest to find the famed Tears of the Moon. For centuries, explorers have lost their lives searching for this magical tree—a single petal of which can cure any illness. But with a special arrowhead in her possession, Lily is convinced that she’ll be the one to find it. So, with the help of wise-cracking, trouble-making skipper Frank (Johnson), she sets off on a deadly mission with hopes of changing the world.
Even before the trio leaves port, the film sets the tone that any Disney theme park fan would expect. From its time period to its light-hearted action to its groan-worthy humor, it feels like the perfect big-screen companion to the classic ride. Dwayne Johnson is just the man for the role of the broken-down boat’s skipper—even gleefully delivering some of the cheesiest lines from the ride’s pun-filled script. And Emily Blunt makes a great match for him as the clever and strong-willed botanist. The pair is just plain fun to watch.
As the ship slowly makes its way through dangerous waters, the characters face all kinds of challenges. The action isn’t especially surprising, and the comedy is about as silly as it gets. But, like its namesake, it’s just brainless, wacky fun.
Unfortunately, though, the light-hearted adventures get caught up in a needlessly complicated story involving a comically spoiled prince (Jesse Plemons) driving a heavily-armed submarine and a band of undead conquistadors that are somehow made of bees and snakes. And when the conquistadors are awakened, the story goes completely off the rails. All of the action and laughs of the first part of the movie are replaced by dark supernatural drama that feels both jarringly out of place and a little too much like Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s suddenly a different movie—a dark and confusing one.
If you’ve ever embarked on the classic Disney ride, Jungle Cruise is everything you’d expect from a movie adaptation—or at least the first part is. And, had it continued on its playful journey, it would have been a lovably silly family adventure. But it tries to be a little too clever—and its dark twists and overcomplicated story suck the fun right out of it.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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