| Jungle Cruise (2021) | |
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Rating: 6.6/10 (211,387 votes) Director: Jaume Collet-Serra Writer: Michael Green, Glenn Ficarra, John Requa Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramírez Runtime: 127 min Rated: PG-13 Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy Released: 30 Jul 2021 |
| Plot: Based on Disneyland's theme park ride where a small riverboat takes a group of travelers through a jungle filled with dangerous animals and reptiles but with a supernatural element. | |
In the early 20th century, Dr Lily Haughton (Emily Blunt) and her brother MacGregor (Jack Whitehall) set off to prove the existence of the Tears Of The Moon, a mythical Tree that legend tells of a 16th Century conquistador who sought its bloom as a cure to all maladies, only to be cursed by villagers to never leave sight of the river. They head to South America where they end up hiring Frank Wolff (Rock), who takes sightseers on jungle river cruises stacked with fake thrills and bad jokes. However, it appears he knows something of the legend, and he insists he is the only person who can take the pair to their treasure. Adventure, myth, magic, curses – this is Pirates of the Caribbean territory once more.
The first half hour was a struggle to be honest. The very presence of Jack Whitehall drags the film down as he plays that oh so stereotypical rich Englishman who is clumsy and aloof that we’ve seen dragged to death constantly through the years. It wasn’t fun when John Hannah did it in The Mummy (a film of which this film shares a huge chunk of DNA), and it certainly isn’t when the ‘made-for-TV’ Whitehall does it either. Even in the opposing scenes, setting up The Rock’s character, star power fails to add anything, with Paul Giamatti in an embarrassing turn as a corrupt harbormaster named Nilo. When the somewhat dubious CGI is added – as well as a couple of “OOOOH THIS WAS MADE FOR 3D” moments (a branch jutting forward in the center of the screen in a lingering shot clearly designed to make the effect seem cool for example) – that first half hour set me up to really, really dislike the film….
….But then The Rock and Blunt were together on screen, and from that point on things started to get fun. Yes, their characters are tropes we have seen before all shoehorned into one film, but when the star power is this good, and the chemistry works, you can oversee the flawed repetitiveness and just enjoy the ride….and Whitehall! At the same time we get Jesse Plemons’ as Prince Joachim, a crazy German aristocrat seeking the tree himself, and whilst we’ve seen Plemons in a villainous role before, we’ve not had chance to see him chew scenery as much as he does here, and he is magnificent! Indeed, so great in a panto-villain role is he that the cursed conquistadors, who should be a genuine threat, feel a little dull as a result (not aided by some sloppy CGI to be fair).
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A final mention for James Newton Howard’s score, which is packed with action, adventure, and Metallica! Yes, you heard that right! As the Disney logo appears at the start, a familiar guitar tune played as Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters became the core theme for the film for some strange reason…and I’m all for it! (Apparently Disney president Sean Bailey has always wanted to find a film to fit Metallica into, being a bit of a fan!)
Enjoyable, albeit overblown, family adventure film with the essence of the 80s adventure movies, and more than a passing similarity to The Mummy. Worth a family adventure to see.
