Blu-ray Review: JUMANJI - 90's Family Romp That Holds Up
Jumanji is a great family romp that still holds on to much of its original merit.
rating: 3.5
Director Joe Johnston is becoming quite the fan favourite these days, especially amongst the elusive 18 25 year old demographic. Hes recently helmed such budgetary monsters as Hidalgo, The Wolfman and the insanely priced Captain America: The First Avenger. But before them existed Jumanji, the intimate yet surprisingly sprawling family adventure that explores the duplicitous nature of escapism. Adapted from the book of the same title, Jumanji begins in 1969, following a young Alan Parrish (played as an adult by Robin Williams). Dominated from all angles, by the local bullies and even his father, its his need to escape that drives him to follow the ominous sound of disembodied drums into a local excavation site. There he finds the sturdy wooden board game: Jumanji. He and his young love interest Sarah (played later by Bonnie Hunt) start the game together, with disastrous consequences that leave Alan trapped inside a jungle dimension within the game board. Its only when the Shepard kids (Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce) move into the old Parrish house twenty-six years later and discover the all too immersive game that hes finally freed from his leafy prison. But Alan isnt the only thing unleashed from within the game, not by a long shot. The game itself becomes its own form of character, developing a sort of insidious One-Ring like sentience (although exuding nowhere near as much dread power as Tolkiens metallic antagonist). It acts with reasoning; after one dice roll for example, the game turns the floor beneath Alan into quicksand and then back into floor upon the next roll, trapping him. A turn later it causes a local earthquake, which tears the house in two, freeing Alan to move onto the next jungle based set piece. Its this pattern of action, consequence, reaction as the characters become exponentially desperate to complete the game (the only way reality and normality can be restored) that while not exactly pushing the boat out in terms of plot mechanics, makes for a delightfully rhythmic pace.
One of Jumanjis prime let-downs is in its visual effects. Computer generated imagery seems to age so terribly and for my money nineties CGI is some of the crummiest available. In previous decades, CGI was technically undeveloped and usually directors were justifiably uncomfortable with it being on screen for more than a few seconds. In the nineties however it was often believed that CGI was sophisticated enough to sustain itself through prolonged exposure, but you only have to take one look at the animated monkeys in Jumanji to realise that it really wasnt. They honestly look like something ripped from a Playstation 1 FMV; sure it was cutting edge in its day, but it doesnt achieve great results in the test of time. The rest of the effects arent all as terrible, but much of it is palpably false by todays standards. For all its shortcomings in the VFX department, Jumanji has aged well in terms of story. Theres an old saying in Hollywood that goes: If the scenes about what its about, then youre in deep shit. If Jumanji only prescribed that elements of the jungle were manifesting themselves in a small New England town then the film would undoubtedly have been flat and uninteresting. But it isnt. Woven into the subtext is the story of courage in the face of fear; turning to face reality and dealing with the problems that life can throw at us head on. Alan finally wins the game, when he finally confronts the macabre human hunter Van Pelt (Jonathan Hyde) from inside the game, who's a clear metaphorical representation of his need to escape in the first place; his totalitarian father. Robin Williams further cements his reputation as a family favourite in Jumanji. Its far from one of his acclaimed performances but he does seem to have an effortlessly likeable quality that follows him from film to film (even in his darker roles, such as Sy Parrish from One Hour Photo). Williams has a talent for bringing a child-like innocence to adult characters, notably in Jack, Patch Adams and even as early back as his breakthrough part in T.Vs classic Mork and Mindy. Jumanji requires him to break this naiveté out again for Alan, who retains much of his youthful exuberance thanks to having been trapped in a jungle alone for most of his adult life. Hes belligerent, even bordering on spoiled in places but of course layered on top is a razor sharp survival instinct that inevitably gets the job done. 
Jumanji boasts a solid supporting cast, with Bonnie Hunt backing Williams up as Sarah Tuttle, Alans love interest and fellow player; a neurotic, semi-delusional early victim of the game. Hunt turns this role as best as possible in that she delivers a convincing portrayal of attraction toward Alan and a maternal instinct toward the Shepard kids, but its not exactly the character of the century and I cant imagine she had to dig particularly deep for emotional inspiration. Kirsten Dunst shows her early ability with her take on Judy Shepard, a young orphan girl with a sardonic sense of humour, but the child actor limelight clearly falls on Bradley Pierce, who plays her brother Peter. Hes an introverted boy, shattered by the loss of their parents. Pierce toes a line here, between depression and broodiness that allows his character to succeed as tragic figure, while still retaining a cutesy everyboy air that makes him relatable to the common kid. The film itself has received a somewhat disappointing visual transfer onto Blu-Ray, despite being presented in full 1080p (with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 full screen on a 16:9 T.V). Close ups are sharp and detail is characteristically high, but when bodies of colour such as trees and leaves appear on screen (and trust me this is a lot) it all gets a little over-grainy and even blurry in parts. Its not something Id expect to have to deal with after having shelled out for the Blu-Ray prestige but having said that, this is a value release and so a less than perfect transfer isnt exactly a surprise either. Its sound mix is hefty; throwing a whole dynamically placed range of weird and wonderful sounds, as well as an exciting soundtrack through your speakers in full-on, lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1. Nothing presented here is as shiny or satisfying as a more polished release, but its all a definite improvement on previous versions of Jumanji you may have seen. 
Special features on the disc include a somewhat interesting audio commentary, centring round the achievement of the visual effects. There are also a few interesting featurettes, including a twenty minute making-of (not a bad length for a single supplementary), a short documentary on the animatronic visual effects, a three minute production design featurette, detailing the different catastrophes that the Parrish house endures and finally a three minute long storyboard to film comparison. All of this is presented in standard definition, but this release also boasts an interactive Jumanji game, for two to four players presented in the Blu-rays native HD. I was hugely surprised at the range of supporting features here on this budget range release, and I salute the decision to include them. Jumanji is a great one for the family around Christmas, or any other low-energy get together. It was never going to win best picture, but then again it was clearly never intended to. Its characters arent particularly deep, but they are instantly relatable for their own qualities and have motivations that are hidden in exactly the amount thats required for them to be labelled subtext; simplified enough for the children to grasp and complex enough to sate a more developed viewer. If you can deal with dated visual effects, then Id thoroughly recommend this release; itll cause far fewer arguments than Monopoly. Film 3 ½ / 5 Jumanji never pushes into dramatic enough waters to be classed as an important movie, but everything it attempts it achieves effortlessly. Despite its relatively dated effects, it retains the same level of narrative intrigue as it did when it was released in theatres in 1994. A rhythmic, satisfying family adventure thats more than capable of grabbing and holding its audience by the dice. Presentation 3/ 5 The films visual transfer suffers from grain and blurriness with regularity in the more solid blocks of colour, but close-up detail is finely crisp and the game board itself looks particularly ominous, when filling the frame in full 1080p. The audio receives an immersive mix, and the menu system itself is all nicely intuitive and in keeping with the tone of the movie. Its an adequately slick package all round considering its pricing, but perhaps one thats best viewed from across a room. Extras 4 / 5 Upon entering the Extras menu, I was pleasantly surprised. For once theres a decent amount here, especially for a bargain Blu-Ray. What is here is interesting too, provided you were into the film. Theres around 40 minutes worth of featurette on varying aspects of the movie (mainly, but not exclusively on how they pulled off the visual effects) and an audio commentary track from the effects team themselves. Theres also an interactive version of the Jumanji game for up to four players, presented in full HD. Overall 3 ½ / 5 Jumanji is a great family romp that still holds on to much of its original merit. The Blu-Ray release is provides solid value for money, with a decent level of attention paid to most of the key areas (barring perhaps the slightly underwhelming visual transfer). You already probably know someone who loves this movie, and I cant think theyd grumble at opening this on Christmas morning; and I daresay itd make fine hangover viewing for any age range at any time of year. Jumanji is out now on Blu-ray.