Jungle Cruise Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

3. The Amusingly Ridiculous Villains

It's pretty common for movies of this sort to put incredibly little effort into their villains, and while the two primary antagonists here aren't massively fleshed out, they are nevertheless more compelling than expected.

Jesse Plemons is a blast as unhinged German aristocrat Prince Joachim, showing up to set with a hammy German accent and seemingly having the absolute time of his life.

As mercenary Aguirre, Édgar Ramírez is an imposing presence and also a character with more going on than appearances first suggest.

Adventure movie villains really don't need to be more than functional plot motivators, but here they're fittingly cartoonish and amusingly over-the-top - not unlike the villains from the classic adventure serials which inspired, among other things, the Indiana Jones franchise.