Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle Review - 7 Ups & 4 Downs

Ups

7. It's A Clever & Funny Movie About Gaming

Perhaps the most pleasantly surprising aspect of the entire film is that it's a genuinely clever and funny movie about video games, both championing their fun and creativity, and also ribbing them for their cliches.

There are some unexpectedly hilarious gags here about NPCs, cut-scenes, sexism (especially Karen Gillan's thinly-veiled Lara Croft parody character), while popular gameplay mechanics are incorporated into the plot in a way that feels both organic and inventive.

Considering how awful and off-the-mark most video game movies are, Jumanji seems to prove the Crank rule: make the movie before the game even exists. The gaming aspect is also presented in such a way that it'll give gamers some extra laughs, but it won't leave non-gamers clueless either.

Given how easily this part of the film could've been shallow and lazy, it's refreshing that the movie's army of five screenwriters clearly have a very real love for gaming.