Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Awkwafina, Danny Glover, Danny DeVito, Colin Hanks, Bebe Neuwirth, and Lamorne Morris
Grade: A

Have you ever wanted to see a movie where Awkwafina rides a flying horse into the air that is actually Danny Glover? Well, do I have the movie for you…

Summary

It’s been a little while since the events of the first film, but what happened brought our characters closer, as they are now a tight-knit group of friends. Despite going to different colleges and not living in the same area currently, they are all coming home for Christmas break. They all seem pretty happy too, except for Spencer (Alex Wolff). He was dating Martha (Morgan Turner), but they’ve been on a break since sometime after Martha went away for college. Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain) plays collegiate football and Bethany (Madison Iseman) is coming back from a nice vacation to see everyone. Following work, we see Spencer get back home first, where his grandfather Eddie (DeVito) is staying because he’s recovering from hip surgery. Spencer’s mother asks Eddie if he’s called Milo (Glover), but Eddie responds negatively, insisting he has no interest in talking to him. Next, Spencer goes to his room to find out Eddie is his temporary roommate. That night, Spencer tells his mother he’s meeting his friends in the morning for brunch at a diner named Nora’s, something Eddie is not cool with for whatever reason. Before Spencer and Eddie go to sleep, Eddie asks about Martha, so Spencer vaguely explains how it fell apart. After Eddie’s horrible pep talk, explaining to Spencer that these years are the “best” of his life even though he’s mildly depressed, Spencer realizes that the last time he was happy was when he was Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Johnson), the avatar he chose the first time he played Jumanji.

Now if you remember, at the end of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the group of friends destroyed the game. Apparently though, Spencer picked up the remnants of it and fixed it to the point where it’s operational again. He turns it on and gets sucked into the game, officially restarting the chaotic mess that was Jumanji.

At Nora’s the next morning, Fridge, Bethany, and Martha meet and catch each other up on how life has been going for them. Martha does get a little awkward when her break with Spencer is brought up though. Even so, all three of them get worried because Spencer hasn’t shown up yet. Back at the house, Eddie is woken up by a visiting Milo. Eddie still doesn’t want to talk to him because of unresolved issues between the two, but he lets him in anyway as they argue over breakfast. Before Milo gets to the point of why he’s there, Fridge, Bethany, and Martha show up to the house looking for Spencer. As Milo introduces himself, we learn that Milo and Eddie used to own the restaurant that is now Nora’s. Soon after, they all start to hear the thumping sound synonymous with the game. They track it to the basement and see that Spencer saved and fixed the scraps of Jumanji. Fridge calls Spencer’s phone, but they find it in Spencer’s coat, confirming suspicions he went back inside the game. Realizing there’s no way he can recapture the jewel on his own (the mission from the first movie), the three friends decide to go back in to save Spencer. As soon as Martha picks up the controls however, the game glitches and sucks everyone into the game without them picking their players first. Oddly enough, Bethany is the only one that wasn’t sucked into the game.

In Jumanji, Martha is luckily given the avatar of Ruby Roundhouse (Gillan) again, and she runs into Bravestone (Johnson) almost immediately. Unfortunately, Bravestone isn’t Spencer. It’s actually Eddie who was sucked into the game unknowingly. Milo is also sucked into the game, taking over the avatar of zoologist Mouse (Hart). Much to his dismay, Fridge is given cartographer Shelly Oberon (Black). As Eddie/Bravestone and Milo/Mouse struggle to understand that they’re in a video game, Martha/Ruby and Fridge/Shelly try to explain things to them, stressing how they are there to save Spencer. In the process, Fridge/Shelly is eaten alive by a giant lizard of sorts, losing a life sooner than expected. After he respawns, the four see a plane land near them, so they go to investigate. It turns out to be the NPC (non-player character) Nigel Billingsley (Rhys Darby) piloting the plane. It looks like the game made itself a sequel, and the mission they’re on is entirely a new one. They all board the plane, and Nigel gives them the details on the new mission:

Apparently, a war lord named Jurgen the Brutal (Rory McCann) has returned to Jumanji and conquered the place with his horde of soldiers. Descending from a fortress on Mount Zhatmire, they made their way south to the Avian Province, home of the sacred Falcon Jewel worn around the neck of the village elder. It’s the fertility jewel of Jumanji, and it’s been guarded by the citizens of the Avian Province for hundreds of years. As long as the jewel can see the sun, the land will be healthy and fruitful. Sadly, Jurden stormed the village, stole the jewel, and locked it in a box to keep it in darkness so it can’t face the sun. This destroyed the crops, the land, and the weather of Jumanji. If the jewel isn’t returned soon, the place can fall apart. What makes things more personal is that Jurgen is the one that killed Bravestone’s parents.

Eddie/Bravestone and Milo/Mouse are still confused as all hell, so Martha/Ruby and Fridge/Shelly take the lead on this whole mission. Nigel gives them a map and tells them to “find an oasis and follow the flame to the desert fruit”. Next, he drops them all out of the plane, in the middle of the desert, without a parachute. In the real world, Bethany tries messing with the game some more to enter but leaves the basement for help. Back in Jumanji, Eddie/Bravestone is killed by an ostrich. Once he respawns, the group is chased by a herd of ostriches, but they are able to elude them via dune buggies. As things calm down, Martha/Ruby explains to the two old men that both of their avatars have strengths and weaknesses, touching Eddie’s/Bravestone’s chest to show him the menu screen. For the first time, Bravestone finally has a weakness, though it says “switchblade” with no context. Milo/Mouse has an additional strength of “linguistics” too. Following this, the group finds “The Oasis” town, and Eddie/Bravestone and Milo/Mouse continue to argue over Milo selling the restaurant so he could retire, despite Eddie not being ready. In the real world, Bethany goes to meet Alex (Hanks). As you may remember from the previous film, Alex was the person they saved from the game after he was stuck in it for twenty years. Bethany, not knowing who else to turn to for help, asks Alex to help her fix the machine to re-enter the game.

At the Oasis in Jumanji, the four enter some bar where Eddie/Bravestone is immediately approached by a beautiful NPC (Dania Ramirez) that implies they had a previous relationship and how they should meet up later. Clearly, she has a clue to advance the game but since Eddie still doesn’t understand the rules of a video game, he thinks this girl is actually interested in him. Realizing she is an ex-“flame”, meaning the flame Nigel said they were supposed to follow, Martha/Ruby takes the group to follow her into the next room. Jurgen is there and he makes a speech to his horde, explaining how he killed his right-hand man for trying to steal from him. Because of this, he fed the guy’s body to his hyenas. Just then, the lights go out. When they turn back on, Jurgen’s key is stolen by Ming Fleefoot (Awkwafina). Ming happens to be the avatar Spencer was forced to become because of this glitchy game. Not realizing it’s his grandson just yet, Eddie/Bravestone stops Ming from escaping and sends him back to Jurgen who kills him. Spencer/Ming respawns outside of the bar. After some initial confusion and reconciliation, he joins the group in hopes of beating this game one more time.

My Thoughts:

Naturally, I was a skeptical going into this sequel. I’m happy to admit I was wrong about this film’s predecessor, but how can you continue this franchise and still keep it feeling fresh and just as funny as the one before it?

When the news broke of The Next Level and I heard that the cast was returning, my assumption was that the same real characters would be put into different bodies because it would automatically create for some funny situations. It’s the only way you can freshen things up while keeping the same energy as the first movie. Well, I was right on that one because that’s basically what happened. What I didn’t account for was the inclusion of Danny DeVito and Danny Glover. DeVito in particular, playing the miserable old man, was comedy gold, even in the limited capacity he was on screen. However, what made the movie was his influence over the whole narrative as the rest of the humor of the film is dedicated to the Jumanji avatar characters trying to do impressions of him. Admittedly, Awkwafina did a better impression of DeVito than Dwayne Johnson. Nevertheless, Johnson’s impression is so awful that it’s fucking hysterical. Johnson may not be able to sound like him whatsoever, but he embodies the spirit of Danny DeVito, something we all strive to do. His confused reactions to everything going on will have you on the floor laughing. When you combine it with Kevin Hart doing an impression of Danny Glover’s soft-spoken, can’t-seem-to-get-to-the-point old man character, you have a sequel worth watching. That’s how magic these two are. I cannot stress this enough. Johnson and Hart crush it together. Though these characters sort of take a backseat to the main story, since they can only help so much because they don’t know what the hell is going on, they are the best comedic supporting characters of the year.

Imagine how hard it would be to teach your grandparents a video game. This is what we’re dealing with here. It may be frustrating if you’re the person having to teach them, but if you’re a bystander, it’s hilarious. This is where a majority of the humor of Jumanji: The Next Level comes from. The cluelessness of Milo and Eddie is exactly what this movie needed, and Hart and Johnson becoming them is so damn funny, you don’t want the characters to switch bodies again when it happens mid-movie. The scene where the group is officially given the new mission from Nigel had me crying of laughter. I’ll link it here just so you get an idea on how uproarious this sequel can be.

Just remember before you watch the video that Johnson is DeVito and Hart is Danny Glover. It makes it that much funnier.

Karen Gillan having a bigger role than before was nice, and Jack Black looks like he had a lot of fun switching from Fridge to Bethany. The action might not be as good as Welcome to the Jungle, but it’s humor evens everything out. Figuring out a way to bring back Alex/Seaplane, giving Bethany something to do on the outside, and the decisions made to keep this story just as entertaining as before were both equally impressive and unexpected. The screenwriters deserve a pat on the back for this one (or a well-earned raise). Honestly, I didn’t expect The Next Level to be this good.

Jurgen the Brutal was also a solid villain. He was physically imposing and really fit the role of a pillager and vile warrior. Indeed, he is a brute. He didn’t need any more screentime than he was given either. Jurgen was in here the perfect amount of time. Admittedly, he’s not in the movie as much as a regular villain would need to be in a film like this, but he doesn’t need to be. The reason we came out to see this sequel is the colorful group of heroes we have and them interacting with each other, with the actual mission being kind of secondary to the movie. All the entertainment stems from the chemistry of the main cast and the humor that naturally comes with it. The villain did his part and was well-placed throughout the film to continue to build the tension of the third act. Plus, I finally got that climactic fight with Johnson and the main villain, something that I noted was needed at the end of Welcome to the Jungle. I was a bit worried about adding Awkwafina to the mix because though she can be funny at times, she can get annoying in the wrong situation. However, she found her sweet spot here. Who would’ve thought she could play a male Jewish college student so well? Spencer’s awkwardness and constant stammering were very present in her impression of the character. You can tell she did her homework.

Also, the fact that Spencer wanted to be The Rock but got stuck being Awkwafina is hilarious in itself. It definitely fits the self-deprecation humor the first film was so good at.

Jumanji: The Next Level has proven me wrong. These back-to-back reboot/sequels have turned this dead-in-the-water franchise around, making it something worth watching. Both Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level have been well cast, consistently funny, action-packed family friendly movies, with loads of entertainment for all ages. The chemistry between everyone is off the charts too. If they still manage to keep things new and exciting in the inevitable sequel (as well as funny), I might be the first one in line to watch it.

They’ve gained a fan in me, and I’m not ashamed to say it.

Can we please get Danny DeVito to return in the third one though?