IR Film Review: JUNGLE CRUISE [Disney]

The release of "The Jungle Cruise" has been a long time coming. When this reviewer was in Kauai about 4 years ago it seems I was told that the film had just shot there. Of course with the pandemic and other factors that is quite understandable but still interesting how it might have changed it. Granted that doesn't impact the story that this is telling since it is not about product placement (unlike "A Time To Die"). "Jungle Cruise" is a fun ride but not really anything new. Its plot points can be pulled almost directly from "The Mummy" with modern inclusion standards updating (which again is understandable).

The opening comedy elements with Blunt almost directly fall in line with Rachel's Weisz's performance nearly 22 years ago in her introduction. Both leads are good. Watching Johnson try to work to the romantic lead is a nice touch but tricky. Blunt, in all honesty, does most of the heavy lifting and the reason it works between the two is mostly because of her. But Johnson is smart enough to realize that and with the reveal of his character that makes alot of sense. But in looking at either “The Mummy", "The African Queen" or even "Romancing The Stone" there needs to be more balance.

Interestingly enough the time I most engaged with Johnson is when he was covered, in a flashback. His visage is so synonymous with his character that sometimes, like with Schwarzenegger in the past, it tends to overwhelm anything else. The humor works but it feels more vaudeville slapstick at times than heartfelt. This should resound though well with kids. Jaume Collett-Sera, who directed this and is also doing "Black Adam", really has a sense of the timing and pace of the film so it never feels slow, the tone is exactly right (for the most part) and it does build to where it is going without skimping on meaning, metaphor and still alluding back to the ride without getting too deep. This is obviously a step ahead of movies he did with Liam Neeson but it is also a bigger budget.

That said, the movie is undeniably sweet but it is just what we have seen before with new people in a new package with 21st century sociological standards integrated. This is most specifically integrated in a bit with Blunt's character (in a more obvious way) whereas Jack Whitehall (who I have seen only on Graham Norton's talk show and not in an actual film role until now) as the buffoonish brother with a secret works better on a dramatic level while still being a buffoon. While this is better emotionally than John Hannah in "The Mummy" ever did, Hannah was more fun and effective. "Jungle Cruise" tries to be many things to many people and succeeds in a certain amount of them. Johnson does try something new (which is great) but Blunt undeniably in the jewel. And Jesse Plemons gets a great participation trophy as the Prince Joachim, still a Disney baddie but delicious in a eccentric way. B

By Tim Wassberg