10 Movie Remakes That Ditch Classic Elements
5. The Boardgame - Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2016)
Look, we can all recognise that sometimes the film industry has to make some necessary changes to keep film genres relevant. Jumanji is a prime example. The 1995 film is an absolute classic in the family film genre, and exceptional performances from Robin Williams, Jonathan Hyde, and a very young Kirsten Dunst make it an absolute masterpiece.
But what worked in 1995, a reality-bending board game that two kids willingly play without any wrangling from an older relative, is a smidge unrealistic by today’s standards. There’s definitely still enough in the film for it to work for today’s kids: the genuine peril of being stuck in the middle of a stampede, encased in quicksand, or that whole bit where one kid is turned into a monkey are still some great cinematic moments.
As far as updates go, however, Jumaji: Welcome to the Jungle (2016) does a fantastic job of keeping what we know and loved from the original, while putting a modern spin on it that speaks to modern audiences. Welcome to the Jungle does ditch a lot of the original movie. The board game becomes a video game, the “child” actors are replaced with blockbuster actor avatars, and the 20th Century game hunter Van Pelt is made over to fit the dark, brooding baddie stereotype we see in most action films.
But despite these cosmetic changes, it doesn’t ditch the most crucial aspect of Jumanji: the game’s sentience. Jumanji itself is a chaotic neutral type – it doesn’t really care what happens to its players, as long as the game itself is played (hence it knowing to revolutionise itself into a video game cartridge.)
Anyone who does play Jumanji to completion is graced with some kind of life improvement too: Judy and Peter’s parents avoid their fatal ski trip, Alan Parrish reconnects with his father, and even the four kids in the 2016 installment end up with deep friendship connections and a new appreciation for life. I suppose surviving being eaten by a hippo, trampled by rhinos, and flung out of helicopters will do that to you.
Yeah, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle does away with a lot of the aesthetic elements of the original, but it at least keeps its soul.